PARIS: World number one Serena Williams survived a huge scare to reach her first French Open semi-final since 2003 on Tuesday, defeating unseeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Williams, bidding to win just her second title in Paris, 11 years after her first, looked down and almost out at one stage against the 2009 champion.

Despite coasting through the first set, she then dropped serve for the first time in the tournament, being broken three times in the second set, trailed 0-2 in the third and fought off two break points that would have seen her slip to 0-3.

But she battled back, winning six of the next seven games to secure victory in a shade under two hours.

Victory extended Williams' winning streak to 29 matches as she moved into a semi-final clash against Italian fifth seed Sara Errani, the runner-up to Maria Sharapova last year.

The remaining quarter-finals take place Wednesday when Sharapova tackles Serbia's Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, faces Maria Kirilenko. (AFP)

AFP