Serena Williams recovers to beat Sloane Stephens
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Updated 01/06/2015 at 22:08 GMT
Serena Williams shrugged off a damaging first set to storm into the French Open quarter-finals with a 1-6 7-5 6-3 victory over fellow American Sloane Stephens.
Serena Williams - Roland-Garros 2015
Image credit: AFP
The world number one was staring elimination in the face after imploding in a 23-minute first set, but she somehow regrouped to sneak victory on Philippe-Chatrier.
Williams will face Italy’s Sara Errani in the last eight.
Stephens broke in the opening game of the contest to set the tone for a one-sided opening set, which saw Williams blaze 15 unforced errors and claim just one point on her second serve.
But the 19-time Grand Slam champion’s serve improved in the following set, helping Williams claim more free points as she dug in before claiming the decisive break in the 11th game.
The duo slugged it out at the start of the final set – the first break looking increasingly pivotal – with Williams making inroads for a 3-2 lead as her opponent started to flag.
Stephens had a glimmer of restoring parity at deuce in the eighth game, but Williams swatted away the danger before quickly breaking her opponent’s serve again to wrap up victory.
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