Serena Williams’ bid for the calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015 is over.
The world No. 1 was stunned 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 by unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open semifinals on Friday afternoon. Vinci punched an improbable ticket to her first-ever major final, while Williams was looking for her fourth such title of the season and 21st of her illustrious career.
“I thought she played the best tennis in her career,” Williams said of Vinci. “She’s 33 and she’s going for it at a late age. So that’s good for her to keep going for it and playing so well. I think she played literally out of her mind.
“I don’t think I played that bad. I made more unforced errors than I normally would make, but I think she just played really well. She did not want to lose today. Neither did I.”
“It’s amazing,” Vinci assured. “It’s like a dream. I’m really happy, but of course I’m a little bit really sad for Serena. She’s (an) incredible player.”
Speaking of incredible, legends Leander Paes and Martina Hingis extended the woes of the host nation on Friday. In the mixed doubles championship match, Paes and Hingis downed the all-American duo of Sam Querrey and Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 3-6, 10-7.
It was a disappointing day for the American contingent even for the so-called champions. In that tournament, John and Patrick McEnroe teamed up but the brothers may have been better off staying in the commentary booth. They lost their opening match 7-6(4), 6-4 to Mark Philippoussis and Pat Cash.
At the junior ranks, Michel Mmoh’s loss prevented the U.S.A. from putting three players in the boys semifinals. Mmoh got off to a fast start in his quarterfinal encounter but ended up losing to 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Alex De Minaur of Australia. But the semifinal will still be 50 percent American, as both Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul advanced.
There were no Americans even from the beginning of the men’s wheelchair event. There also appears to be no one who can challenge No. 1 seed and defending champion Shingo Kunieda. The Japanese star, who has won this event five times, beat Belgium’s Joachim Gerard 6-4, 6-1 in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
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