Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals in the French Open on Tuesday for the first time since 2003.

She beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in a match, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen at the annual tennis match that also known as the Roland-Garros 2013. The Russian star player previously beat Williams in their last match at the French Open in 2009.

The news is exciting for the 15-time Grand Slam champion who last won the French Open in 2002. She lost the French Open quarter finals which prevented her from making it to the semi-finals four times. The last time she was beaten was  in 2010.

Williams, 31, admitted in French that she was afraid she was going to lose this year's quarterfinal match.

''It was a very tough match today, but it's good for me because, I don't know, but it's very good. I am exhausted," she told The Associated Press.

The last female American tennis player to play at the French Open was Jennifer Capriati in 2004.

The Roland Garros began on May 21 and ends on June 9. 

Williams currently graces the cover of the Essence magazine's July 2013 Body Issue. The California native wears a blue ombre strapless swimsuit on the front page and in the cover story she revealed how she fought her way back to the top in tennis after having emergency surgery for a hemotoma due to pulmonary embolism (blood clot of the lungs.)

She also discussed the attention her derriere has received on and off the tennis court over the years. She admitted she's happy to see that women are embracing their curves when in the past, she was criticized for her body.

"It can be a bit weird," she admitted. "Before it was, 'Serena has a big butt,' and that was all. Now there are way more people who feel comfortable with themselves and they're saying, 'I'm a woman, and this is what I look like.' I always say, 'We're popular now! We're finally in style!'"

Essence July 2013 cover starring Williams on the cover arrived on newsstands on June 3.

Watch Williams play against Kuznetsova at Roland Garros 2013 here.

Tags: Serena Williams