Serena, Safarova to decide 2015 French Open champ

Serena Williams had to come from behind to beat quality Swiss Timea Bacsinszky, while Czech Lucie Safarova secured a berth in Saturday's women's French Open final by ousting former champion Ana Ivanovic in straight sets.

Thursday's semifinals saw the world No. 1 great Williams outlast the 23rd- seeded Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 and the 13th-seeded Safarova reach her first-ever major final by dismissing the seventh-seeded former top-ranked star Ivanovic 7-5, 7-5 on the red clay at Court Chatrier.

Williams and Safarova will do battle, with $2.05 million going to the winner.

In the second semi on Day 12 of the fortnight, Bacsinszky appeared to be on her way to a stunning victory, up a set and 3-2 in the second.

But Williams came roaring back to reach her third straight major final.

Playing in her first-ever Grand Slam semi, Bacsinszky broke Williams for a 3-2 lead in the first set, and three holds later she was up a set on the mighty American.

In the second set, Bacsinszky converted on a sixth break point when Williams sent a backhand wide of the court to go up 3-2 and it was starting to look like it wasn't going to be the American's day.

But Williams eventually got the break back and would add another for a quick turnaround and 5-3 lead in the stanza.

Bacsinszky saved a pair of set points in the ninth game of the set, but Williams eventually got the hold to level the match at a set apiece.

Williams broke her Swiss counterpart to open the deciding third set and rolled from there, as Bacsinszky's game went off the rails, this after dazzling Williams over the first set-and-a-half with speed, court coverage, craftiness and fearlessness.

The amazing Williams actually closed out the match on an 10-game run and the bout came to an end hen Bacsinszky sent one final backhand long on the American's second match point.

Williams prevailed despite spraying 30 unforced errors. She did, however, smack 37 winners, including eight aces, and broke Bacsinszky five times, while the Swiss settled for only a pair of breaks in a tough defeat.

Thursday marked the fourth time in six matches that Williams dropped the first set only to come out on top in the end.

She's now 3-0 versus the 25-year-old Bacsinszky, including a straight-set quarterfinal win at Indian Wells back in March.

The powerful 33-year-old Williams is now 3-1 in her career French Open semifinals and 24-3 in her overall Grand Slam semis.

The reigning Australian and U.S. Open champion is seeking her third French Open title (2002, 2013).

Williams, who's now 31-1 this year, is seeking her 20th Grand Slam singles titles. Only Margaret Court (24) and Steffi Graf (22) own more. Helen Wills Moody, like Williams, also owns 19 major championships, but they all came during the Amateur Era (before 1968).

Meanwhile, the first semi on Chatrier saw Ivanovic race out to a 3-0 lead in the opening set on her way to a seemingly commanding 5-2 cushion before Safarova somehow turned their match around.

The Czech lefty captured eight-of-nine games at one point to stun Ivanovic for a 7-5, 3-1 lead before the Serb fought back to level the second set.

Safarova broke for a 5-4 lead in the second and had a match point while serving in the next game, but Ivanovic staved it off and would knot things up at 5-all when a Safarova backhand clipped the tape and sailed wide.

Ivanovic, however, was unable to consolidate the break in the next game, as Safarova broke right back for a 6-5 advantage.

The Czech veteran then held serve by converting on her third match point after 1 hour, 52 minutes by rifling one last forehand winner. It was the Czech's 36th winner of the match, with 18 of those coming off that forehand wing.

The in-form Safarova has yet to drop at set at this 2015 Parisian fortnight.

Safarova, who will join fellow Czech Petra Kvitova in the Top 10 on Monday, celebrated the biggest win of her career by laying down on her back on the famed clay at Roland Garros.

Next week will mark the first time two Czech women have been in the Top 10 together since October 1989 (Helena Sukova and Jana Novotna).

Safarova is now 6-3 lifetime versus Ivanovic, including a 2-1 mark at the French. Ivanovic won a second-rounder here in 2008 and Safarova ultimately returned the favor in the third round last year.

The Serbian Ivanovic was the French Open champ in 2008 and runner-up in 2007.

The 28-year-old Safarova has appeared in at least the semis in two of the last four majors. She landed in the final four at Wimbledon last summer.

Williams will head into Saturday's final with a perfect 8-0 record against Safarova. The two have never squared off at a Slam.

The formidable Williams owns 66 career titles, including ones in Melbourne and Miami this season.

Safarova is 6-7 in her career WTA finals, including a title in Doha earlier this year.

The 2015 French Open champ will collect $2.05 million, while the runner-up will settle for just over $1 million.

[SportsNetwork.com]