(CNN) -- Serena Williams avenged her 2009 French Open defeat against Svetlana Kuznetsova when beating the unseeded Russian 6-1 3-6 6-3 in a gripping quarterfinal. Kuznetsova lifted the trophy at Roland Garros in 2009 but was unable to repeat her success despite breaking the world No. 1's serve for the first time in the tournament. Williams cruised to the first set in 28 minutes but that was an inaccurate barometer of what was to come, with the remainder of the match taking an hour and a half. Despite Kuznetsova taking an early break in the third set, Williams found another level to reach the French Open semifinals for the first time since 2003.
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Serena Williams beats 2009 French Open Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets
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World number one to face last year's runner-up Sara Errani in last four
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Italian returns to semifinals after beating Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets
After paying tribute to Kuznetsova, who came into @placeholder ranked No.