• French Open, day 11

Stosur sends Serena crashing out

Sam Stosur will be dreaming of celebrating twice more on Chatrier after her win over Serena Williams © Getty Images

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• News: Stosur ends Henin's unbeaten run in Paris
  
• Profile: Jelena Jankovic | Serena Williams

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Sam Stosur's fantastic run in the French Open continued as she claimed the scalp of No. 1 seed Serena Williams to move into the semi-finals.

The Australian inflicted a first Roland Garros defeat since 2004 on Justine Henin in the previous round and she carried that momentum into her match with Williams to claim a 6-2 6-7 (2) 8-6 victory.

Stosur's strength overwhelmed Henin and it was in evidence again. The Australian was powerful behind her own serve and Williams was forced to produce a huge ace to fend off the threat from Stosur in the fourth game.

Williams made inroards on the Stosur serve in the fifth game, but the Australian showed great quality on her sometimes brittle backhand to hold.

Williams continued to target the Stosur backhand but time and again it stood the test, and the world No. 1 pulled a forehand wide to hand a break to her opponent.

Stosur's form this season has been consistently high and, despite having won just once in four previous clashes with Williams, she took a real sense of belief onto the Philippe Chatrier court.

Williams has made a career out of bullying her rivals, but she was the one being bullied as Stosur forced her further and further behind the baseline with her all-round excellence.

Stosur smashed winners on both wings, but it was not all about power as Williams found it impossible to read the Australian's subtle wrist changes which moved the ball around the court and Stosur broke again to take the opening set.

Williams found Stosur in dominant form at Roland Garros © Getty Images

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Williams dug in to save break points in her first two service games of the second set but she could not keep the Australian at bay and a double fault opened the door for Stosur in the eighth and she barged through as Williams pulled a forehand wide.

Stosur gave two cheap points away when serving for the match to raise doubts that she would choke and the forehand seemed to freeze as Williams broke back.

Games were traded as Williams regrouped, she looked on the brink of tears during the second set, and her increased belief saw her take the tie-break with ease to force a decider.

The momentum was all with Williams at this point, but she inexplicably took her foot off the accelerator and an awful double fault handed Stosur a break.

However, Stosur failed to cash in as the forehand showed signs of weakness. Williams went on to break back and had further chances to move 4-2 ahead but despite the Stosur serve lacking the venom of the first two sets, she failed to convert a couple of chances.

Williams had the advantage of serving first in the final set and this enabled her to keep her nose in front. A missed volley and wild forehand handed Williams a match point, but she missed a forehand down the line by a whisker and Stosur went on to hold for 5-5.

Williams failed to take her chances in the final set and this seemed to allow belief to drift back through Stosur who worked a break point in the 13th game with the point of the match. She worked Williams from corner to corner with great hitting and found a sublime forehand pass. The work was not done as Williams forced her opponent to scramble deep into the backhand corner, but Stosur found a stunning crosscourt pass to secure a break.

For the second time in the match, Stosur had the chance to serve for a place in the semi-finals and on this occasion she held her nerve to claim another famous scalp.

Stosur will face Jelena Jankovic for a place in the final as the Serb's revival in fortunes continued with a solid 7-5 6-4 win over Yaroslava Shvedova. The No. 4 seed did not have things all her own way as she trailed in the first set, but found her stride to book her place in the semis.

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