PARIS — World No. 1 Serena Williams crushed Italian Sara Errani 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the French Open in intimidating fashion Wednesday. The twice Roland Garros champion set up a meeting with Swiss 23rd seed Timea Bacsinszky, who won through to her first Grand Slam semifinal by beating unseeded Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck in straight sets 6-4, 7-5. American Williams hammered 39 winners in a one-sided encounter against the diminutive Errani, a French Open runner-up in 2012. Williams had dropped the opening set in the previous three rounds but made no such slow start Wednesday, setting the tone by breaking in Errani's first service game. A brilliant backhand passing shot handed Errani an immediate break back but Williams was by now in the groove and cantered to the opening set. Errani upped her pace in the second as she looked quicker on her feet, but it was still not enough as Williams broke for a 4-3 lead and she finished it off on her fourth match point. Earlier Czech player Lucie Safarova reached another semifinal, this time in doubles. Playing alongside American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, she won 7-5, 6-2 against the top-seeded pair of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. Safarova is gunning for two trophies, and plays in the singles semis against Ana Ivanovic Thursday. Czechs face Romania in Fed Cup opener Reigning Fed Cup champion Czech Republic will start the 2016 tournament away at Romania, following the draw made at Roland Garros on the sidelines of the French Open Wednesday. The Czechs, champions in three of the last four years, will be chasing their ninth title of all time when they host Russia in this year's final in November. The United States, the record 17-time champion but without a title since 2000, is in World Group II for the 2016 season and it hosts Poland. The 2016 tournament opener will be played on Feb. 6 and 7, just a week after the end of the Australian Open. Draw for the 2016 Fed Cup World Group made at Roland Garros Wednesday:
World Group I: Romania vs. Czech Republic; Germany vs. Switzerland; France vs. Italy; Russia vs. Netherlands. World Group II: Slovakia vs. Australia; Canada vs. Belarus; USA vs. Poland; Serbia vs. Spain. Tsonga determined Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has looked capable of winning grand slam titles ever since reaching the Australian Open final in 2008 but has always fallen into the category of also-ran. The popular Frenchman raised home hopes again Tuesday when he beat Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 in front of an adoring crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier to reach his second French Open semifinal in three years. Now he wants to go at least one better, having also lost two Wimbledon semifinals in 2011 and 2012, to Djokovic and Andy Murray respectively, the Australian Open semifinal to Roger Federer in 2010 and to David Ferrer in the French semis in 2013. While Djokovic, who beat him in Melbourne in 2008 to earn his first major, has added seven more and currently has the world No. 1 ranking locked down, Tsonga has often threatened but never quite delivered. “These six semis, well, that's wonderful, but I have not yet won it (a Grand Slam title),” Tsonga, 30, told a news conference. After the initial euphoria, however, Tsonga will realize that he may never have a better chance to reach another final as it is Stanislas Wawrinka, not one of the established “big four” who awaits in the semifinal. — Agencies
