Serena Williams survives Timea Bacsinszky scare to reach French Open final

Serena Williams has remained on course for a milestone 20th Grand Slam title after beating Timea Bacsinszky to reach the French Open final this evening.

The world number one battled back from a set down to beat her Swiss counterpart 4-6 6-3 6-0 in under two hours to set up a final with Lucie Safarova on Saturday.

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With only two of her 19 Grand Slams coming at Roland Garros - 2002 and 2013 - the American has struggled to exorcise her demons in the French capital in recent years.

Old doubts began to creep in during the first set when Bacsinszky - vying to become the first Swiss to reach a Grand Slam final since Martina Hingis - broke Williams's serve in the fifth game to move 3-2 up, before holding her own to draw first blood in the match.

The second set looked to be taking an identical route when another break allowed Bacsinszky to move 3-2 ahead, but it was the wake-up call that Williams needed as she won four straight games to level up the match.

Williams then sent an ominous message to Safarova, who beat Ana Ivanovic to reach her first ever final, by whitewashing Bacsinszky in the third set to cap a morale-boosting win.