French Open: Serena Williams to meet Garbine Muguruza in women's final
Djokovic to play Murray in men's final
Serena Williams moved one victory from her second consecutive French Open trophy and 22nd Grand Slam title overall, beating Kiki Bertens 7-6 (7), 6-4 in the semifinals Friday.
For the second match in a row, the No. 1-seeded Williams was hardly at her best, falling behind early and making 22 unforced errors in the first set alone. Williams needed to erase two set points for her 58th-ranked Dutch opponent in the opener, but managed to get through it.
If Williams wins Saturday, she will equal Steffi Graf's Open-era record of 22 major championships. Only Margaret Court, with 24, has won more.
In the final, Williams will face No. 4 Garbine Muguruza of Spain, a rematch of last year's Wimbledon title match won by the American.
Muguruza advanced Friday by defeating 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic through to men's final
Novak Djokovic is back in the final of the French Open, earning another chance to win the only Grand Slam that has eluded him with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 semifinal victory against Dominic Thiem.
A first double fault from Djokovic in his first service game put him under immediate pressure, at 0-30, at the start of the third set. Thiem then worked his way to 15-40, only for Djokovic to save the first break point with a forehand winner. But he could do nothing about the second, looking on with bemusement as Thiem thumped a winner of his own into the corner to take a 2-0 lead. A service game to love from Thiem then put him 3-0 up.
But the fightback was short-lived. Two games later, a long forehand from Thiem gave Djokovic two breakpoints. He needed just the first, taking that game and then holding serve to level at 3-3.
Djokovic then went back on the offensive, breaking Thiem again in the seventh game for 4-3 and giving the young Austrian no quarter when he tried to outfox the Serb with a lob. Not only did Djokovic run to the back of the court to retrieve the ball, he then hit a winner for the point, congratulating himself with a clenched fist.
With Djokovic serving for the match at 5-4, Thiem was both fresh out of fight and ideas. Djokovic netted a forehand at 30-all to give Thiem a last-gasp break point, but he couldn't exploit it.
When Djokovic then got to match point, Thiem hit a backhand wide.
Djokovic celebrated in style, gathering together six ball boys and girls with him on court. They all raised their arms to the skies as the crowd shouted "Ole!"
Murray joins Djokovic in men's final
Andy Murray eliminated defending French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in four sets on Friday.
Murray won the match 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and became the first British male player to reach the French Open final in 79 years.
Andy Murray is the first British man to reach the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FrenchOpen?src=hash">#FrenchOpen</a> final in 79 years 💪<br><br>He'll meet Djokovic on Sunday... <a href="https://t.co/YcQCkNdSFt">pic.twitter.com/YcQCkNdSFt</a>
—@Wimbledon"I'm extremely proud," said Murray, his voice wavering during an on-court interview. "I never expected to reach the final here."
Either No. 1 Djokovic or No. 2 Murray will be a first-time French Open champion.
Murray had lost his previous three semifinals at Roland Garros, including a five-setter against Djokovic a year ago.
Djokovic, meanwhile, is 0-3 in title matches at the French Open, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2012 and 2014, then Wawrinka in 2015, each time in four sets. That loss to Wawrinka was Djokovic's most recent at a major.
With files from CBC Sports