PARIS — Done with a dominating performance in the French Open semifinals, Serena Williams climbed the stairs leading from the locker room to the players’ lounge, looking to give her mother a hug.
It’s been more than a decade since she was so happy — and played so well — this deep in the tournament at Roland Garros.
Coming as close to perfect as seems possible, Williams absolutely overwhelmed last year’s runner-up, fifth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy, 6-0, 6-1 in a mere 46 minutes yesterday to reach the final for the first time since winning her lone French Open championship in 2002.
To collect her 16th Grand Slam title tomorrow, Williams will need to beat defending champion Maria Sharapova, who put aside 11 double-faults and got past third-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in a much more competitive semifinal.
The final features the top two women in the rankings and seedings, No. 1 Williams and No. 2 Sharapova. They are 1-2 among active players in French Open match wins, Williams with 45, Sharapova with 43. And they are two of three active women with more than two major championships; Sharapova completed a career Grand Slam in Paris last year with No. 4.
In today’s men’s semifinals, seven-time champion Rafael Nadal plays No. 1 Novak Djokovic for the 35th time, and Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga faces Spaniard David Ferrer.
Because Nadal’s ranking slipped during a recent injury layoff, he and Djokovic wound up in the same half of that draw. As a result, they’ll meet before the final at a major event for the first time in five years.
While tennis players are known to complain, neither Nadal nor Djokovic seems to mind meeting in the semifinals.
“I don’t want to talk about what if,” Djokovic said. “It’s going to be a good match.”