French Open hopeful Bacsinszky gets her hands dirty

By Pritha Sarkar PARIS (Reuters) - Not satisfied with toppling little-known Belgian Alison van Uytvanck 6-4 7-5 to reach her first grand slam semi-final at the French Open on Wednesday -- Timea Bacsinszky wanted a lasting souvenir of her achievement. So, beaming widely, she bent down and rubbed her hands firmly on the red clay that brought her so much joy on Suzanne Lenglen Court and then walked off carrying some precious grains. "You don't get to be playing a semi-final of a grand slam every day, so I really just appreciate the moment for what I did today," grinned Bacsinszky, who is no stranger to getting her hands dirty having taken jobs in restaurants, bars and kitchens during a break from tennis in 2013. The 23rd seed, who now faces world number one Serena Williams, produced a fearless brand of baseline tennis to became the first Swiss woman since Martina Hingis in 2001 to reach the last four at Roland Garros. World number 93 Van Uytvanck, who was bidding to become the lowest ranked woman to reach the semi-finals of the claycourt major, barely had a chance to blink before she found herself 3-0 down in the first set. Considering the ginger-haired 21-year-old had won only one grand slam match prior to her arrival in Paris, it was little wonder that she let the occasion of playing on the 10,000 seater Suzanne Lenglen Court get to her. Once her nerves settled, she held her own but by then the damage had been done and Bacsinszky whipped a forehand winner to wrap up the set. Cheered on by her idol Kim Clijsters from the stands, Van Uytvanck unleashed a string of gutsy shots to recover from 3-1 down to level at 3-3 in the second set. Bacsinszky, however, refused to give up on her grand slam dreams and broke in the 11th game before blasting down a backhand down the line to seal a place in the last four. Having knocked out Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the fourth round, Bacsinszky is ready to stop 19-times grand slam champion Serena in her tracks. To do that, she plans to take some lessons she learnt during her stint in the hospitality industry. "I was trying also to clean plates quicker than my colleagues ... competition is something I have in my blood," she grinned. (Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Douglas Beattie)