LOS ANGELES — Roberta Vinci's stunning defeat of Serena Williams in the U.S. Open semi-finals on Friday triggered an immediate collapse in ticket prices for the women's final, which now features two players who are virtually unknown outside the tennis world.
Williams, who dominates the women's game, suffered one of the biggest upsets in tennis history when the unranked Italian sent her packing with a gutsy, come-from-behind 2-6 6-4 6-4 victory before an astounded crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium court in New York.
The devastating loss meant that Williams, 33, lost her chance to make tennis history as the fourth woman to win all four majors in the same year, a so-called calendar-year Grand Slam.