FORZA! HISTORY WILL BE MADE ON SATURDAY…. BUT NOT QUITE THE WAY WE ALL THOUGHT! SERENA WILLIAMS LOSES IN U.S. OPEN & ROS SATAR RECAPS THE US OPEN SEMI-FINALS AND PREVIEWS THE FINAL

Written by: Staff on 11th September 2015

FORZA! HISTORY WILL BE MADE ON SATURDAY.... BUT NOT QUITE THE WAY WE ALL THOUGHT! SERENA WILLIAMS LOSES IN U.S. OPEN & ROS SATAR RECAPS THE US OPEN SEMI-FINALS AND PREVIEWS THE FINAL

epa04925595 Flavia Pennetta of Italy serves to Simona Halep of Romania during their Semifinals round match on the twelfth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 11 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

FORZA! History WILL be made on Saturday…. But not quite the way we all thought!

Flavia Pennetta def. Simona Halep 6-1 6-3

The courts were dry, there were even signs of sunglasses, t-shirts and shorts amongst the crowd, but would the first semi-final between Simona Halep and Flavia Pennetta shine?

Aces, gritty points, intensity all from the get-go, so we knew we were in for a good shout here as Pennetta’s serving was sharp and focussed with Halep responding in kind, and in the somewhat cooler conditions from the start of the tournament, the gruelling rallies were already beginning to frustrate the World No. 2, as the Italian’s clean hitting and placement forced errors and gave Pennetta an early break. Could the Italian be the dark horse from the final four?

The frustrations did not stop there for the Romanian as Pennetta started to ride roughshod over her, cantering around like a dark horse should (sorry – I’ll stop horsing around now)!

Whatever the World No. 2 needed to do to gee herself up (yes, I know… I couldn’t resist), she needed to do it, and quick-smart. Perhaps, in retrospect, getting herself broken at the start of the second set was not the best way to go about that!

Her body language was very telling – frustratedly racquet-thwacking, dropping balls short, rushing her shots – while Pennetta was a model of patience, building up her points intelligently and moving Halep around the court like a chess-piece on a mission!

Halep is one of the few players out there I think could take the battle to Serena for the rest of the year, and also for the good of the sport! But she had to start acting like a World No. 2 and not someone just happy to be there (or not, if you watched her demeanour). Suddenly the volume started creeping up with her intensity – not something you would normally associate with Halep) bit with each increasing expulsion of air, she started to started to attack and dictate more.

A run of three games on the trot for Halep and the look of the fight-back soon diminished as Pennetta lifted her game once more, saving one match point but a socking clout into the corner and bang on the lines saw her advance to a Grand Slam final for the first time in her life at 33 years of age as Halep exited the stadium shaking her head as she walked through the tunnel. A moment missed for sure, and with a very heavy Asian swing lined up we will be watching with interest how she builds her momentum ahead of the WTA finals.

The moment belonged to Pennetta: “I just tried to play every match the best I could from the first one here,” she said, in her on-court interview after the match. I was trying not to think too much about the draw and everything else and just focus on what I had to do when I got on the court, match by match. And here I am in the final – I’m really, really happy.”

So, we now knew for sure that a 30-something would be winning the US Open title… but who?

Roberta Vinci def. Serena Williams 2-6 6-4 6-4

Williams’ welcome onto court left us in no doubt who the crowd wanted to see advance. Wisely Williams took her time to get ready, and despite reports of the World No. 1 sending a ball on the practice court into the car-park, and after looked to be the tighter of the two, as Vinci got the first break of the match.

While it might have been surprising that she lost her serve, it probably will not have been a huge surprise for her to break Vinci right back. Give the Italian her due – she stayed focused and moved Williams around, but Williams had woken up, still tense, still vocal but getting progressively sharper.

Serena Williams of the US hits a return to Roberta Vinci of Italy during their Semifinals round match on the twelfth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 11 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

Even though Williams wrapped up the first set with another break, Vinci continued to frustrate her with her depth of shot, and was rewarded with another break lead, and this time got away with that all important consolidation. Williams’ footwork was looking patchy to say the least, at times lurching towards shots – that sharpness she showed against Madison Keys? Probably in a queue somewhere in the food-court.

Her racquet saw better days after a heartfelt smash, earning Williams a code violation but it may just have been what she needed as she threatened with an early break at the start of the third, but a poor game handed Vinci a lifeline… and a break back. There was a palpable sense that the closer Vinci stuck with Williams, the more jittery she would become.

Vinci was not giving in, after pulling William’s back to deuce in a thrilling rally, it was her turn to encourage the crowd to cheer for her, actually drawing a wry smile from Williams. If she wanted a place in that final, she was going to earn it the hard way with every point from this place onwards, as Vinci stole the break for a 4-3 lead in the decider.

Suddenly that footwork seemed to come back but both were feeling the pressure with Vinci double-faulting to delay a 5-3 lead, and already Twitter-verse was giddy with the expectation of a glut of “Da Vinci Code” related headlines, as Williams prepared to serve to keep stay in the match. There came the aces to give her a glimmer of hope as the Italian stepped up to serve for a place in the final.

A beautiful half volley put Vinci within two points of it after a Williams return thudded into the net. Another volley from Williams into the net brought up three extraordinary match points and a fantastically controlled drop-shot winner at the net into the open court brought an all Italian final.

In Vinci’s own words: “For the American people, for Serena, for the Grand Slam…but today is my day, sorry guys!”

History was stopped – read on, because history is about to be made!

US Open Final Preview – Flavia Pennetta v Roberta Vinci

Think back, people. Think back two weeks ago when the news came out that the women’s final had sold out before the men’s. People wanted to see history being made. Rumours swirled that Steffi Graf (the last person to collect all four majors in a year) was unlikely to travel to New York so as not to take the moment away from Serena Williams if she made it.

As it turns out, that will not be an issue, but history has a shot as two Italians will contest a Grand Slam final for the first time in their careers. The tennis year will end with a first time Slam winner closing the books on an extraordinary year, and tennis fans should rejoice.

Where else can you see who have played out their lives on the tour contest for one of the biggest prizes in the sport? Well right here, tomorrow as it happens, as I preview the women’s final.

The head to head is close – Pennetta leading 5-4, but with a lot of their wins split until the last two which went to Pennetta, the last one being on hard courts. Where, you ask? Right here in Flushing Meadows in the quarter-final 2013.

Both very established doubles players, we can expect a lot of dazzling court craft tomorrow as they love each other around the court left and right, front and back, and perhaps the edge will rest with Pennetta, but Vinci showed that her ability to mix things up and be on the move kept her going toe-to-toe with Williams.

Vinci seemed to have gotten better as she got older, although last year was a tough year for her, her approach to the US Open saw her pick up some very good momentum. Her slice backhands frustrated Williams on more than one occasion, and caught her flat footed with a switch up to a short ball to finish with finesse at the net.

Roberta Vinci of Italy hits a return to Serena Williams of the US during their Semifinals round match on the twelfth day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 11 September 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/RAY STUBBLEBINE

Thing is, Pennetta is just as adept. For those people who are already hawking their tickets for the final on Stubhub – let’s hope that real fans who may have had their chances of even affording to witness the marvellous spectacle of a Slam final (in any country) a real chance of watching the conclusion of the tournament with all the appreciation it deserves.

Semi-final Tidbits

· It is the third time in a row that a someone has made their Grand Slam singles final debut this year – Lucie Safarova (French Open), Garbine Muguruza (Wimbledon), Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci (US Open)

· Pennetta and Vinci are both bidding for their first titles of the season – not a bad one to go for really!

· Forza Italia – it was the third time in four years that Italy has had a representative in the US Open semi-final – 2012 (Errani), 2013 (Pennetta), 2015 (Pennetta, Vinci)

· Pennetta is the third Italian woman to reach a Grand Slam final after Francesca Schiavone (Roland Garros 2010 and 2011), and Sara Errani (Roland Garros 2012).

· While nothing changes at the top of the rankings on Monday for Williams and Halep, Even if Vinci won, she would still be projected to be just outside the Top 10, but Pennetta could go as high as No. 8 if she lifts the title on Saturday.

· Both Pennetta and Vinci leapfrogged Italian No. 1 Sara Errani, on reaching the final.

Ros Satar is a regular contributor to 10sballs.com and runs Britwatch Sports (@britwatchsports), because we Brits like watching sport. Occasionally we’re good at it.

Topics: 2015 U.S. Open, Flavia Pennetta, Flushing Meadows, Roberta Vinci, Ros Satar, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Tennis News, US Open tennis, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

September 11, 2015 at 2:04 pm

FORZA! HISTORY WILL BE MADE ON SATURDAY… BUT NOT QUITE THE WAY WE ALL THOUGHT! SERENA LOSES IN #USOpen BY @rfsatar http://t.co/Vg0eJKgomc