Bertens seals French Open showdown with Serena

Kiki Bertens is a win away from becoming the first Dutchwoman to reach a grand slam final in the Open era after powering past Timea Bacsinszky to progress to the last four of the French Open.

Bertens has enjoyed a strong year on the WTA Tour and had already seen off three seeds en route to the quarter-finals with wins over Angelique Kerber, Daria Kasatkina and Madison Keys.

And Bertens, who had never previously gone beyond the second round of a slam, proved too strong for eighth seed Bacsinszky - a semi-finalist in last year's tournament.

The unseeded Bertens came through 7-5 6-2 on Thursday, although she now faces the daunting challenge of taking on world number one Serena Williams for a place in the final.

Service games appeared of little significance in the first set, which saw a total of seven breaks.

It was Bertens who struck the decisive break as a rasping forehand was too hot for Bacsinszky to handle and she carried that momentum into the second set.

The 24-year-old received treatment on her leg to start the second but demonstrated an excellent combination of powerful groundstrokes and a deft touch at the net to rattle off four straight games.

Bacsinszky - who committed 40 unforced errors - threatened a comeback by taking the next two but Bertens survived three break points when 4-2 to the good to move a game away from victory.

And Bertens wrapped up her 12th consecutive win in style with a fearsome backhand, setting up only her second meeting with Williams having lost to the American at last year's US Open.

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN

Bertens bt Bacsinszky [8] 7-5 6-2

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Bertens – 16/31

Bacsinszky – 17/40

ACES

Bertens - 0

Bacsinszky – 0

BREAK POINTS WON

Bertens – 7/14

Bacsinszky – 4/13

FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE

Bertens – 60

Bacsinszky – 66

PERCENTAGE POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE

Bertens – 59/47

Bacsinszky – 44/41

TOTAL POINTS

Bertens - 88

Bacsinszky - 70