Yulia Putintseva, the unseeded 21 year old from Kazakhstan, will not easily be forgotten after this year’s French Open, especially by Serena Williams, who was made to work, sweat and scream her way into another semi-final.

Between the rain delays and the Kazakh’s resilience, the World No. 1 and defending champion, had to dig really deep in her 5-7 6-4 6-1 win on Court Philippe Chatrier today.

It was like watching David vs Goliath as Williams towered over the diminutive Putintseva, who seems like a younger version of her and who took the game to Williams, forcing her to make 43 unforced errors.

Putintseva won the first set with Williams fighting back get the second. Don’t be fooled by the scoreline in the third set. Williams, just proving again why is she the champion, lifted her game but that didn’t stop Putintseva who, once she had managed to win a game, went on to save three match points, with brilliant shots past the champion. Williams managed to serve out the match on her fourth attempt and with that, another semi-final appearance and one step closer to her 22nd Grand Slam title.