<p>The 2006 Roland Garros runner-up will face Australian Samantha Stosur, seeded 30th, for a place in Saturday's final. <br /><br />Serena, who was on a grand slam 18-match winning streak following her US and Australian Open titles, threatened to fight back but she bowed out after two hours 46 minutes. <br /><br />"It was the same scenario as Australian Open," said Kuznetsova, who lost 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to Serena in Melbourne. "In the second set, third set I was pushing myself to fight, and still she was break up. With her it's a big difference. She started to serve great, and I'm very proud that I pushed myself and I could fight in the third set." <br />Kuznetsova, the only player to beat world number one Dinara Safina on clay this season, won the first three games, including two on Serena's serve. <br /><br />The American turned on the power to snatch a break back and levelled for 5-5 with a backhand that wrong-footed Kuznetsova. <br /><br />Put under huge pressure by Serena's devastating forehand, the Russian lost her composure and faced a set point in the 12th game. <br /><br />She saved it with a crosscourt smash and forced a tiebreak with a forehand down the line. <br /><br />Kuznetsova got a double minibreak for 4-1 courtesy of a jaw-dropping service return winner and a backhand down the line and she sealed the tiebreak 7-3 with a forehand winner after 52 minutes. <br /><br />The Russian kept her momentum, moving 3-0 up in the second set after Serena netted a forehand in the second game to hand her opponent a break. <br /><br />At 4-2 and 40-30 Kuznetsova twisted her right ankle as she fell and after wiping off the red dirt, the Russian allowed Serena back into the match by conceding a break. Serena broke again to lead 6-5 when Kuznetsova netted a backhand and levelled the contest with an ace. <br /><br />The 2004 US Open champion was off the pace at the start of the third set, letting Williams take a 3-1 lead but she broke back in the sixth game. <br /><br />Kuznetsova wasted two match points in the 10th game with two long forehands but she converted her third chance on her opponent's serve when Serena sent a backhand wide.<br />"Honestly I think I lost because of me and not because of anything she did," Serena told reporters. "In the third I had an opportunity and I got really tight, and I pretty much gave it to her." <br /><br />Stosur booked her place in the semifinals with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Romanian high school student Sorana Cirstea. <br /><br />Federer through<br /><br />World number two Roger Federer eased past local favourite Gael Monfils 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 to book his place in the men’s semifinals. The Swiss will play his fifth consecutive semifinal at Roland Garros against Argentine new kid on the block, Juan Martin Del Potro. <br /><br />The fifth seed beat Spanish 16th seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first major semifinal. <br /><br />Federer, the hot favourite after four-times champion Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the fourth round, saved a set point in the first-set tiebreak before clinching it 8-6. He hung on a double break to take the second and put Monfils out of his misery on his first match point with a backhand winner, keeping alive his dream of winning the only grand slam title to have eluded him.<br /><br />"I was very nervous before this match, yesterday and today," said the 27-year-old, who now stands just two matches away from equalling Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles. <br /><br />"But I have a lot of experience. I know that when I step on the court, I will play well. Or very well." <br /><br />Results (prefix denotes seeding):<br />Men’s singles (quarterfinals): 2-Roger Federer (Swiss) bt Gael Monfils (Fra) 7-6, 6-2, 6-4; 5-Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt 16-Tommy Robredo (Spa) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.<br />Women’s singles (quarterfinals): 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt 2-Serena Williams (US) 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-5; 30-Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Sorana Cirstea (Rom) 6-1, 6-3.<br />Women’s doubles (semifinals): 3-Anabel Medina Garrigues/ Virginia Ruano Pascual (Esp) bt 1-Cara Black/ Liezel Huber (Zim/US) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2; 12-Victoria Azarenka/Elena Vesnina (Belarus/Russia) bt 9-Hsieh Su-Wei/Peng Shuai (Taiwan/China) 6-3, 7-5. <br />Mixed doubles (semifinals): 1-Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan (US) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Mark Knowles (Germany/Bahamas) 6-2 6-2.</p>
<p>The 2006 Roland Garros runner-up will face Australian Samantha Stosur, seeded 30th, for a place in Saturday's final. <br /><br />Serena, who was on a grand slam 18-match winning streak following her US and Australian Open titles, threatened to fight back but she bowed out after two hours 46 minutes. <br /><br />"It was the same scenario as Australian Open," said Kuznetsova, who lost 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to Serena in Melbourne. "In the second set, third set I was pushing myself to fight, and still she was break up. With her it's a big difference. She started to serve great, and I'm very proud that I pushed myself and I could fight in the third set." <br />Kuznetsova, the only player to beat world number one Dinara Safina on clay this season, won the first three games, including two on Serena's serve. <br /><br />The American turned on the power to snatch a break back and levelled for 5-5 with a backhand that wrong-footed Kuznetsova. <br /><br />Put under huge pressure by Serena's devastating forehand, the Russian lost her composure and faced a set point in the 12th game. <br /><br />She saved it with a crosscourt smash and forced a tiebreak with a forehand down the line. <br /><br />Kuznetsova got a double minibreak for 4-1 courtesy of a jaw-dropping service return winner and a backhand down the line and she sealed the tiebreak 7-3 with a forehand winner after 52 minutes. <br /><br />The Russian kept her momentum, moving 3-0 up in the second set after Serena netted a forehand in the second game to hand her opponent a break. <br /><br />At 4-2 and 40-30 Kuznetsova twisted her right ankle as she fell and after wiping off the red dirt, the Russian allowed Serena back into the match by conceding a break. Serena broke again to lead 6-5 when Kuznetsova netted a backhand and levelled the contest with an ace. <br /><br />The 2004 US Open champion was off the pace at the start of the third set, letting Williams take a 3-1 lead but she broke back in the sixth game. <br /><br />Kuznetsova wasted two match points in the 10th game with two long forehands but she converted her third chance on her opponent's serve when Serena sent a backhand wide.<br />"Honestly I think I lost because of me and not because of anything she did," Serena told reporters. "In the third I had an opportunity and I got really tight, and I pretty much gave it to her." <br /><br />Stosur booked her place in the semifinals with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Romanian high school student Sorana Cirstea. <br /><br />Federer through<br /><br />World number two Roger Federer eased past local favourite Gael Monfils 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 to book his place in the men’s semifinals. The Swiss will play his fifth consecutive semifinal at Roland Garros against Argentine new kid on the block, Juan Martin Del Potro. <br /><br />The fifth seed beat Spanish 16th seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first major semifinal. <br /><br />Federer, the hot favourite after four-times champion Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the fourth round, saved a set point in the first-set tiebreak before clinching it 8-6. He hung on a double break to take the second and put Monfils out of his misery on his first match point with a backhand winner, keeping alive his dream of winning the only grand slam title to have eluded him.<br /><br />"I was very nervous before this match, yesterday and today," said the 27-year-old, who now stands just two matches away from equalling Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles. <br /><br />"But I have a lot of experience. I know that when I step on the court, I will play well. Or very well." <br /><br />Results (prefix denotes seeding):<br />Men’s singles (quarterfinals): 2-Roger Federer (Swiss) bt Gael Monfils (Fra) 7-6, 6-2, 6-4; 5-Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt 16-Tommy Robredo (Spa) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.<br />Women’s singles (quarterfinals): 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt 2-Serena Williams (US) 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-5; 30-Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Sorana Cirstea (Rom) 6-1, 6-3.<br />Women’s doubles (semifinals): 3-Anabel Medina Garrigues/ Virginia Ruano Pascual (Esp) bt 1-Cara Black/ Liezel Huber (Zim/US) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2; 12-Victoria Azarenka/Elena Vesnina (Belarus/Russia) bt 9-Hsieh Su-Wei/Peng Shuai (Taiwan/China) 6-3, 7-5. <br />Mixed doubles (semifinals): 1-Liezel Huber/Bob Bryan (US) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld/Mark Knowles (Germany/Bahamas) 6-2 6-2.</p>