Serena Williams had done it all this year. She had won in Melbourne, in Roland Garros, and in Wimbledon. She was two games away from matching Steffi Graff’s 1988 calendar grand slam.
But Italian world no. 43 Roberta Vinci had other ideas. The 32 year old stopped Serena right in her tracks, winning their Friday night semi final 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to put the brakes on Serena’s rampaging year.