PARIS, France (AFP) — World number one Serena Williams revealed a sweet-toothed recipe is aiding her quest for a first French Open crown in 11 years after reaching the semi-finals yesterday with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over unseeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Her secret? Chocolate and maracoons.

The 31-year-old laughed as she contemplated a first appearance in the last four at Roland Garros since 2003, since when she has endured four quarter-final exits and also a first round humiliation 12 months ago.

Asked the reason behind her renaissance on the slow red clay she said: “I guess (I’m) pretty fit. I had some chocolate yesterday. And the day before — and the day before and the day before.

“I usually don’t like chocolate. For whatever reason I wanted some chocolate with caramel. Then I wanted a macaroon. That’s my weakness, macaroons. And I love chips.”

The chips were pretty much down when she faced two break points against her at 0-2 down in the final set yesterday — but she drew deep on the experience of 15 Grand Slam titles, unsurpassed by active female players and sixth on the all-time list, to fight back.

Williams had coasted through the opening set but then dropped serve for the first time in the tournament and she conceded two further service games in a wayward second set which enabled Kuznetsova to scent a chance.

But the American champion swiftly locked away any thoughts of further chocolate flavoured desires as the burning desire for victory once again took over.

When Williams is on her game her sheer power as well as experience and positional sense remain enviable on the women’s circuit and a run of six out of the next seven games saw her to the finish line in just under two hours.

Victory extended Williams’ winning streak to 29 matches as she moved into a semi-final clash against Italian fifth seed Sara Errani, the runner-up to Maria Sharapova last year.

Williams, who had dropped just 10 games in reaching the last-eight, admitted she found the wind tricky, but she still found her game quickly with breaks in the second and sixth games, having sealed the opener with an ace on the Suzanne Lenglen court.

The 27-year-old Kuznetsova took a medical timeout off the court and the treatment worked wonders as she broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set.

The wily Kuznetsova, who had defeated the American at the same stage in 2009 on her way to the title, fended off two break points to go to 3-0 and broke again for 4-0 before Williams clawed one back for 1-4.

But the American then dropped serve for a third time to slip 5-1 down as the Russian forced the errors with a clever mix of power, angles and drop shots.

It was a realisation that, unlike too many others on the tour, she was not going to out-bludgeon the world number one and that the key was to keep her moving.

Williams pulled back to 3-5 and had break points in the 10th game.

But a scrambling, netted backhand gave Kuznetsova the set to level the tie as her rival dropped her first set of the event.

However, the Dubai-based Russian couldn’t secure the break in that key third game in the decider and paid the price as Williams broke back for 2-2 before clinching the win with a rasping cross-court forehand.

Errani reached the semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) win over Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

PARIS, France — Serena Williams of the US reacts after she defeated Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova during their quarter-final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium here, yesterday. Williams won 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. (PHOTO: AP)