Roberta VInci Ends Serena Williams Five Years Winning Streak At US Open

In one of the biggest surprises in tennis history, Roberta Vinci, an unseeded Italian veteran playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal, defeated Williams, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, on Friday.

Serena Williams after been defeated by Vinci

“It’s an incredible moment for me,” said Vinci, who cried in her chair after the upset and called the victory the “best moment of my life.”

Instead of Williams playing for a Grand Slam in Saturday’s final, it will be an all-Italian affair between Vinci and 26^th-seeded Flavia Pennetta, who beat No. 2 Simona Halep, 6-1, 6-3, in another upset earlier Friday. But Pennetta’s victory was no surprise compared with what Vinci engineered on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Williams entered Friday with a 33-match winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments and had not lost at the U.S. Open since the 2011 final.

Pennetta, 33, and Vinci, 32, have each won Grand Slam titles in doubles, but neither had advanced to a Grand Slam singles final until Friday

Vinci, ranked 43rd, apologized to the crowd afterward for changing the story line.

“For the American people, for Serena, for the Grand Slam and everything,” she said. “But today is my day. Sorry, guys.”

The last player to complete the Grand Slam by winning all four major singles titles in the same year was Steffi Graf in 1988. Williams had put herself within close range by making great escape after great escape this season, winning the Australian Open, the French Open Wimbledon and her first five matches in Flushing Meadows.

Along the way, she had won 11 three-set matches, shrugging and snarling off early and late challenges, illnesses and other setbacks.

Roberta Vinci

But chasing the Grand Slam is one of the great pressure cookers in sports. Graf has said she felt much more relief than joy when she pulled it off at age 19.

Williams, at 33, was experienced enough to understand just how precious an opportunity this run provided her. Though she had her moments of brilliance Friday, including 16 aces and many overpowering return winners, the pressure ultimately proved too much.

Down the stretch, she was clearly fighting herself as much as Vinci, a clever tactician whose crisply sliced one-handed backhand made it difficult at times for Williams to generate her trademark pace.

But Vinci is the same player who had never won a set against Williams in their four previous matches, never even pushed her into a tiebreaker.

In Toronto last month, Williams defeated her, 6-4, 6-3, in the quarterfinals. But that will not be the match between Williams and Vinci that will live on in tennis memory.

“How disappointed are you?” was the first question at Williams’s postmatch news conference.

“I don’t want to talk about how disappointing it is for me,” Williams said. “If you have any other questions, I’m open for that.”

She then complimented Vinci, saying, “I think she played literally out of her mind.” Williams rejected the idea that she was under a lot of pressure.

“No, I told you guys I don’t feel pressure,” Williams said. “I never felt pressure. I don’t know. I never felt that pressure to win here. I said that from the beginning.”

Williams had won four Grand Slam singles titles in a row, dating to last year’s United States Open. But the true Grand Slam requires a calendar-year sweep.

Source:nytimes