The women bring drama a'plenty in the French Open semi-finals as Serena Williams, Lucie Safarova prevail

PARIS – The women may not always bring the tennis the way the top guns on the ATP Tour do. But they never, ever shortchange on the drama.

(And no, this isn’t a dissertation on men’s vs. women’s tennis; that’s a no-win debate. They are apples and oranges; both can be good, average and unforgettable).

The tennis in the French Open women’s semi-finals Thursday was a classic study of women battling themselves. And it was riveting. As former champion Justine Henin said on the French broadcast, "women are emotional." 

The first semi-final between the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion who was in her first Grand Slam semi-final since then, was all about the nerves.

For Ivanovic, who has gamely soldiered on in the seven eternal years since then through various coaches, ups and downs and broken romances and public vows that this time, she was finally getting it right – it was a huge opportunity to get to another Grand Slam final. For Safarova, playing the best tennis of her career at age 28 and in her first-ever Grand Slam semi-final, it was a rare opportunity to have a shot at a major.  

For great stretches, there was superb hitting. But when Ivanovic had her shot at staking a claim, she faltered. When Safarova served for the match the first time, she double-faulted three times. But in the end, the No. 13 seed from the Czech Republic was left standing.

Which brings us to Serena Williams.

Is there a more polarizing athlete in all of sports? Well, there may well be. But a wounded Serena, struggling physically and – most of all – losing, is a veritable phenomenon. Love her or hate her, you absolutely cannot look away.

The histrionics on Court Philippe Chatrier during her semi-final against long shot No. 23 seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, a smiling, worthy foil of an underdog with a dramatic back story and a puncher’s chance, were vintage Serena.

We say this because we’ve seen it before, in several variations.

There is the Serena who looks as though she can’t take three steps for the first part of a match and practically serves underhand and, when things are looking grim, roars to life – literally. There is the energy-bereft Serena who looks like she has nothing, but suddenly has just enough. There is the Serena who, on occasion, is legitimately challenged by an opponent and, as the match goes on, bellows more belligerently, C’MAAAAAAAANNNNN's her opponent’s errors more vociferously and takes it up the gear or two that are needed to prevail.

That’s Serena. That’s how she competes or, more accurately, that’s what competition brings out in her. Not only is there no one who plays as well as she does on the WTA Tour, there probably isn’t anyone who hates to lose as much as she does, with the possible exception of Maria Sharapova.

But even Sharapova was defeated by the French Open flu bug this week.

After her inexplicable struggles during the first three Grand Slams of the season in 2014, Williams got through the U.S. Open and salvaged a major last season.

But in Australia in January, she was sick. There was plenty of coughing and lots of drama and – in part because Williams is just better than the rest of the field by a long shot – she got through it, overcame one-set deficits against Garbiñe Muguruza and Elina Svitolina during the first week and beat Sharapova in the final.

For this French Open – remember, last year, when she exited in the second round after a strange, listless performance against Muguruza? – it’s been drama from the get-go.

Williams had to come back from a one-set deficit to win her three previous matches. So it wasn’t as though, all of a sudden, in the semi-finals, she was struggling.

Warming up on a small court a few hours before the match, Williams had several coughing fits and really didn’t push it hard. And Thursday was perhaps the first truly warm day of the tournament, with the sun beating down.

So, after losing the first set to an opponent who was playing exactly as you hope a first-time Grand Slam semifinalist will play (but rarely does), Williams summoned up the will.

Her will, as it happens, is very, very, VERY loud. To reference the epic movie Spinal Tap, it’s at “11”.

The reaction on social media from some current and former players was immediate.

The reaction from Twitter to the reactions of her fellow players was immediately virulent. Yes, none of them have accomplished what Williams had. Few players in history have. But surely they’re as entitled to their opinion as your random Tweeter who has never picked up a tennis racquet. Or so you would hope.

Criticizing Williams’ dramatics is fair game; it is no one’s cup of tea. Questioning whether she was actually sick – implying somehow that she was creating all this drama to get attention or throw off her opponent – is something else.

There’s little doubt she has been ill. After the victory, Williams spent significant time with the medical staff; the announcement that her post-match press conference was cancelled came nearly 90 minutes after the match. Williams has two days to recover as best she can before her Saturday final against Safarova.

Most importantly, Bascinszky said didn’t feel it was done with evil intentions.

You won’t find too many opponents who will say that. Because they all know that this is Serena. And Serena is just better, period. So any criticism of her methods, even if they felt it was warranted, just looks like sour grapes.

Along with Rafael Nadal’s obsessive tics and VAMOSSSSSS!!!es, Andy Murray’s stream of R-rated profanity, John McEnroe’s umpire abuse, Sharapova’s screams and Victoria Azarenka’s yelps, this is how they compete; this is how they pull fighting spirit out of their souls that even they might not know had.  They are wired differently than mere mortals, differently even than mere mortal tennis players.

That doesn’t make it pleasant to watch. But it has helped Williams to 19 major titles, with No. 20 in her sights on Saturday.

Whatever quarrel you might have with the process, you can’t argue with the results.