French Open 2015: Results, Scores, Winners and Thursday Twitter Reaction

Serena Williams lost another set. She also lost her cookies. But with her French Open life once again on the line, the world No. 1 came through and advanced to Saturday's final.

Williams defeated Timea Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in their semifinals matchup Thursday, struggling mightily in the first set before righting the ship. She overcame 30 unforced errors and consistently sloppy first serves, which went in play just 57 percent of the time.

“I have been feeling unwell for a few days, and after this tough match against Timea, I needed to see the tournament doctor,” Williams said in a statement, per Christopher Clarey of the New York Times. “I am proud to be back in the final here at Roland Garros, in a city that means so much to me, and am determined to be 100 percent ready for the final.”

Williams' illness was on full display early in the match, which saw her look completely out of sorts as Bacsinszky took the first set. Bacsinszky hit 16 of her 26 total winners in the set, won every approach she made at the net and took advantage of Williams' uncharacteristically unfocused play. She finished off the set 6-4, the fourth time in six matches at Roland Garros that Williams has dropped her first set.

For a few brief games in the second set, it legitimately looked like Bacsinszky would pull off the upset. She went ahead a break at 3-2 and was one held serve away from really putting Williams' back against the wall.

"

And here is Serena Williams being sick and half-throwing up, tho it goes into the towel pic.twitter.com/pKgq9jiamW

— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) June 4, 2015"

A fateful break later, during which Williams threw up into a towel and looked like a person closer to withdrawing than coming back, Serena was unleashed.

She did not drop another game, roaring back to earn a 6-3 win in the second set and goose-egging an overmatched Bacsinszky in the deciding third. Six of her eight aces came in the pivotal second set, and she allowed Bacsinszky to win just 12 points in the third—a number two more than her unforced errors total.

"I tried everything. I thought if I lose, I will lose with a fight," Williams said, per ESPN.com. "I tried, I tried. I found the energy. I don't know where, but I found it. And I won. I hope that on Saturday, I hope..."

Williams' voice trailed off as she threatened to get sick once again on the court. She then left with the help of her coach and declined to attend her post-match press conference. Williams admitted earlier in her interview on the court that she's been dealing the flu for nearly the entire tournament. 

"I got the flu after my third-round match," Williams said, per Live Tennis. "I’ve been struggling ever since then and I haven’t been getting better."

Williams will have 48 hours to ready her body for a finals matchup against Lucie Safarova, who earned a competitive 7-5, 7-5 win over Ana Ivanovic. Safarova overcame eight double-faults and 31 unforced errors in the win, taking advantage of a strong return game and Ivanovic's inability to score breaks.

Round	Winning Player	Losing Player	Score
Semifinals	No. 13 Lucie Safarova	No. 7 Ana Ivanovic	7-5, 7-5
Semifinals	No. 1 Serena Williams	No. 23 Timea Bacsinszky	4-6, 6-3, 6-0

"It is a dream come true. I cannot believe it," Safarova said, per BBC Sport. "I started slowly but tried to keep up the level and play really aggressively because that was the only way to win."

Safarova's aggressiveness helped her to the tune of seven aces and a first-serve conversion rate of nearly 70 percent. She also won eight of her nine points when approaching the net. Ivanovic helped out with 35 unforced errors, though this was still her best Grand Slam result since her 2008 French victory. 

Heading into Saturday's final, it's been Safarova, not Williams, who has been the dominant female at Roland Garros. The 28-year-old is yet to drop a set and has consistently made clutch shot after clutch shot. It's rather amazing that she was a couple of bad shots away from losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round.

Still, the resume disparity here is striking. Williams is looking for her 20th Grand Slam championship. She'll be playing in her 24th final. After struggling on clay for more than a decade, Williams has reached the final two of the last three years and will be looking for her second title in that time frame.

Safarova won six tournaments. Total. She's entering her first Slam final and had only so much as reached a quarterfinals twice before Roland Garros. At age 28, she's not exactly young either; she's been a tour fixture for more than a decade.

Williams has played Safarova eight previous times, all of which ended just as you'd expect. The top-seeded American took five of those matches in straight sets. She'll enter as an overwhelming favorite while attempting to win her seventh Slam since turning 30. On paper, it all seems preordained.

To anyone who watched Thursday's semifinal matchups? It's anything but.       

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.