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SPORTS A19
Saturday 12 September
Williams stunned in U.S. Open semis by Vinci
HOWARD FENDRICH old American from becom- Serena Williams reacts after losing a point to Roberta Vinci, of Friday.
AP Tennis Writer ing the first player since Italy, during a semifinal match at the U.S. Open tennis tourna- Williams grabbed six
NEW YORK (AP) — For Ser- Steffi Graf in 1988 to win all ment, Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, in New York. games in a row to take the
ena Williams’ first 26 match- four Grand Slam tourna- first set and go ahead 1-0
es at major tournaments in ments in a calendar year. Associated Press in the second. Suddenly,
2015, no deficit was too As Williams quickly left the though, Vinci broke to
daunting, no opponent too scene, hopping in a waiting her mind.” sure,” then pointed to her go up 3-2 in the second.
troublesome, no victory too black SUV and taking off, Vinci next faces another chest and whispered in Ital- When Vinci served out that
far from reach. her coach, Patrick Moura- Italian making her Grand ian, “Me, let’s hope.” set, Williams headed to the
She was unbeaten and, toglou, was explaining to Slam final debut: 26th- An intriguing story line, to sideline, cracked her rack-
seemingly, unbeatable, reporters what he called “a seeded Flavia Pennetta, be sure, but nothing com- et against the ground and
nearing the first Grand Slam bad day, clearly.” who eliminated No. 2 Si- pared to what Williams was flung it behind her chair,
in more than a quarter- He said he could tell before mona Halep 6-1, 6-3 in an- chasing: a perfect Grand drawing a code violation
century. All Williams need- the match that something other, if less-unbelievable, Slam season. warning from the chair um-
ed was two more wins to was off. surprise. After all, not only was she pire.
pull off that rare feat. And “She was very slow. There Pennetta, 33, and Vinci, 26-0 at those tournaments Vinci noticed.
yet, against an unseeded was no movement with her 32, have known each oth- this year, but her winning “I saw she was nervous,”
and unheralded opponent lower body, so she was in er since there were kids, streak at majors was 33 Vinci said, “and that
in the U.S. Open semifinals, bad positions to be aggres- growing up in towns about matches, because she helped me.”
she faltered. Her pursuit of sive and play her attack- 40 miles (65 kilometers) won last year’s U.S. Open. If As the third set wore on,
history ended, oh so close. ing game,” Mouratoglou apart on opposite coasts she had managed to win a Williams became more
In one of the most signifi- said. “She couldn’t find it of Puglia, a region in the fifth consecutive major title, and more demonstrative,
cant upsets in the history of today. You don’t wake up southeastern heel of Italy’s Williams would have raised leaning forward, shak-
tennis, Williams finally found the same way every day. boot-shaped peninsula. her total to 22, equaling ing her fists and scream-
a hole too big to climb out Some days you feel good, They used to meet in local Graf for the most in the ing, “Come on!” after
of, losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 Friday other days you don’t feel tournaments in their early Open era, which began four points in a row during
at Flushing Meadows to good. That’s life. Usually teens, then paired up to in 1968, and second-most one stretch. Vinci showed
43rd-ranked Roberta Vinci she finds a way, and today win a French Open junior in history behind Margaret emotion later, closing a
of Italy. she did not.” doubles in their late teens. Court’s 24. spectacular 18-stroke ex-
“I don’t want to talk about Williams had been pushed Now, all these years later, “I never felt that pressure to change with a volley win-
how disappointing it is for to the limit before — this they will face each other in win here,” Williams insisted. ner, then cupping her ear
me,” Williams said at the was her 12th three-setter in a stadium in New York with “I said that from the begin- with a hand, before point-
start of a briefer-than-usual a major this season — but a Grand Slam trophy on ning.” ing to her chest and wav-
news conference. “If you had managed to win titles the line. Her older sister Venus — ing both arms at the spec-
have any other questions, at the Australian Open on “We’ll be as tight as violin who pushed her to three tators, encouraging them
I’m open for that.” hard courts in January, the strings, both of us,” Vinci sets in the quarterfinals — to yell for her, too.
Vinci had never before French Open on clay courts said. She gave a thumb’s was in her guest box, and That point ended with Wil-
played in a Grand Slam in June, and Wimbledon on up while noting in English rapper Drake, a pal, was in liams on a full sprint, stum-
semifinal; Williams owns 21 grass courts in July. And she that “an Italian wins, for Arthur Ashe Stadium, too, bling a bit as her momen-
major titles. In four previous had won five matches on tum carried her to the side-
matchups, Vinci had never the U.S. Open’s hard courts line, where she bent over,
taken a set off Williams. over the past two weeks. chest heaving.
“Every so often,” Vinci said, This time, for once, the No. The crowd responded to it
“a miracle happens.” 1-ranked Williams could all with a standing ovation.
How little faith did even not pull it out, undone by Williams never was able to
she have? Vinci said she 40 unforced errors, twice as get back in front. She let a
booked a flight home for many as Vinci. That negat- 2-0 lead in the third set slip
Saturday, the day of the ed the impact of Williams’ away, in part by double-
final. 16 aces, including one at faulting on break point to
But Vinci’s unusual style, 126 mph. make it 2-1. Williams dou-
full of slices and net rushes, “I thought she played the ble-faulted again a few
kept Williams off-balance best tennis in her career,” games later, when Vinci
enough to cause problems Williams said about Vinci. broke for 4-3, a lead she
and prevent the 33-year- “She played, literally, out of did not relinquish.q
