Hello and welcome to LIVE updates of the French Open quarter final encounter between the reigning champion, Serena Williams and Kazakhstani hopeful. Yulia Putintseva.

GAME, SET AND MATCH! - WILLIAMS 5-7 6-4 6-1 PUTINTSEVA. Serena has done it! The world number one was pushed hard and made some awful errors at times, but she comes through a tough encounter in two hours and nine minutes. Even at the end, she makes life hard for herself. She serves with triple match point but makes some basic mistakes to allow Yulia to save them all. The Kazakh makes a big mistake on the forehand and Serena finally seals the match on her fourth chance.

WILLIAMS 5-7 6-4 5-1 PUTINTSEVA. Yulia gets on the board to 30 with a sliced dropshot to finish. She didn't deserve a bagel. Serena to serve for the match now.

WILLIAMS 5-7 6-4 5-0 PUTINTSEVA. The big serve gets Williams out of a hiccup at 30-40 and she hits big to conclude. She's one game away now.

BREAK! - WILLIAMS 5-7 6-4 4-0 PUTINTSEVA. It's a double break and Williams is closing in. She has double break point but can't see it through and has to do it all again from deuce. It's been one of those days but she must surely seal this from here...

WILLIAMS 5-7 6-4 3-0 PUTINTSEVA. The world number one can see the finish line that had been mired and lost within her own chaos earlier. She holds to 15 to consolidate her break.

BREAK! - WILLIAMS 5-7 6-4 2-0 PUTINTSEVA. Serena takes control. It's a break to 15 with a corking backhand winner the pick of the points.

WILLIAMS 5-7 6-4 1-0 PUTINTSEVA. Has the real Serena come out to play? It's a hold to 15 that gives her the scoreboard advantage.

SET! - WILLIAMS 5-7 6-4 PUTINTSEVA. It's all about survival! A double fault means parity for Serena who was on the rack there, but somehow she has taken this to a decider.

WILLIAMS 5-7 5-4 PUTINTSEVA. A crazy, crazy game of tennis. It's a mix of the bizarre, the awful and the brilliant from Serena. Yulia has two BPs but can't make them count and she could well rue them. Serena survives from deuce with some quite terrible decision-making.

WILLIAMS 5-7 4-4 PUTINTSEVA. Wow. What is going on? Yulia refuses to give up and it pays dividends here. At 0-40 Serena looks set to reassert herself but the underdog comes rampaging back with some brilliant forehand winners. All square now and Serena creaking.

BREAK! - WILLIAMS 5-7 4-3 PUTINTSEVA. A clenched fist from Yulia who is giving Serena a torrid time here. The American looks in control at 40-30 but blasts long and allows her opponent to crank up the heat. Serena is her own worst enemy and we are back on serve.

WILLIAMS 5-7 4-2 PUTINTSEVA. Smart response from Yulia as she rallies from 15-30 to pull off the hold. She keeps herself competitive and hopes for a Serena wobble.

WILLIAMS 5-7 4-1 PUTINTSEVA. Serena consolidates to 15 with a fourth game on the spin.