NEW YORK — Time and time again Serena Williams escaped during this Grand Slam season on her quest to sweep all four majors. But finally, on Friday, she hit a roadblock that caused her not just to trip, but to fall.
That hurdle came in the most unlikely of forms in Roberta Vinci, a 32-year-old world No. 43 who was making her debut appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal.
It also came in the form of unthinkable pressure loaded onto the shoulders of the 33-year-old world No. 1, who was trying to sweep all four majors in a calendar year for the first time since 1988, when Steffi Graf did so.