OT: Roberta Vinci Beats Serena Williams in US Open Semis
Sorry to post this on a Friday before a game, but a major and totally surprising piece of sports news.
Roberta Vinci, a 32 year old (300:1 odds) Italian beat Serena Williams in the US Open, denying Williams the chance of a calendar Gran Slam, last done in 1988 by Steffi Graf.
http://espn.go.com/tennis/usopen15/story/_/id/13631724/serena-williams-…
September 11th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
Entertaining interview afterwards though... as an American part of me wanted Serena to win, but she's also kind of a brat.. so.. I was torn
September 11th, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^
"kinda of a brat", possibly the understatement of the year.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
They all come across as brats...especially when bitching about the Williams sisters.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:25 PM ^
I'm certainly gonna bitch about how I didn't put a meager 10 bucks on 300 to 1 odds of the GOAT getting upset randomly.
FUCK.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:52 PM ^
If you betting on tennis I feel bad for you, son.
I got 99 problems but gambling ain't one.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^
Why? There's a contingent on this board that seems to really hate her for some reason.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:59 PM ^
been to the US open a bunch of times and seen her (and her sister play); when they win and are interviewed they are very blah about the whole thing.
Every winner usually autographs three balls and knocks them into the stands; most players try to bash the heck out of it for the upper deck vs. the williams sisters just lob them into the front row; picky stuff I realize.
I think she is a great tennis player but its more fun to root for someone who is fun to root for
September 11th, 2015 at 4:06 PM ^
She threatened to stuff a ball down a linewoman's "fucking throat" on national television, for one. She pouts and sulks every time she loses.
There was one time a few years back where she was basically only playing the majors and had just won one of them and in her postmatch press conference, she openly lamblasted another player, I think Azarenka (EDIT: nope, Dinara Safina), who was ranked #1 in the world at the time, saying she should be #1 instead of her. (As background for those who don't know, tennis has a weird ranking system where people accumulate points during the year to incentivize people to play as many tournaments as possible and to dissuade people from doing what Serena was doing which was to just show up for large tournaments.) And she just openly insulted this lady -- not the system -- listing the tournaments she had won and laughing about how inconsequential they were. And this is how she reacted AFTER WINNING A MAJOR.
She's admittedly one of the top 3-4 of all-time, but her personality is nearly impossible to like.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:08 PM ^
I always heard they were pretty cordial to each other. There was even this quote from back in May.
"Vika and I are really close," Serena said after beating Azarenka 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. "We text each other. She's a really, really good person. I really like her. I'm obsessed with her outfit. I told her, 'God, I love those shorts.' So she gave me a pair. She promised me a pair, and she gave me a pair.
"We talked about this a long time ago. We said, we're going to leave everything on the court, we're going to give 500 percent and when we're off the court, we'll be really cool."
I'm not calling BS on whatever insults you mention, but I don't remember that. Also, John McEnroe is a beloved figure and that dude was the epitome of an easy person to dislike.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^
I was mistaken on the other person. It was Dinara Safina, and it was in 2009. If you search youtube for "serena williams safina press conference", it'll be the first clip.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:39 PM ^
She can be huge dick. I already knew that. But I can't blame Serena for ripping the system. I mean, they were asking her about her shirt (And yes I'm not looking at her titles) and the #1/2 rankings. Seems only natural to compare resumes. Coaches do it all the time when trying to lobby their teams into either the BCS title game or the CFP.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:49 PM ^
Yeah, but she's not in a sport where there's anything to lobby. No one seriously thought Safina was better than her. She gains nothing by doing it other than, apparently, self-satisfaction at embarassing publicly another person. When you go "she worked hard to get where she is. She won Rome and Venice and ahahahahahahahaha!" you're being, as you put it, a huge dick. That's why many people don't like her.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:01 PM ^
I've never seen someone who's never cheated or been accused of cheating get so much hate. It's not just a thing on this board, but everywhere.
From the moment her and her sister started winning, which was almost as soon as they got on the Tour, everything they do on and off the court has been criticized.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:07 PM ^
I think Venus gets nowhere the hate of Serena and attribute that to their VERY different dispositions.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:10 PM ^
Silly stuff. Poor losers, not dedicate to tennis b/c too focused on their fashion design careers. Really petty stuff. Maybe I chalked up their attitude to Daddy Williams and some unneccessary criticism on the off-court stuff and gave them a free pass.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:35 PM ^
but there was always a lack of graciousness when she lost when she was younger. She's gotten away from that a bit as she's gotten older, but it was really off-putting how she would never give her opponents any credit whenever she lost. Which of course was really awkward when it was Venus who had won.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
'Roid Rage. Ah-nold calls for mandatory PED testing in Tennis.
September 11th, 2015 at 8:38 PM ^
I don't think she's on roids, she just transgendered. Look up the history on the adoption.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
the post match interview with Vinci was maybe the best I've ever seen
September 11th, 2015 at 3:22 PM ^
YES?
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September 11th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
The viewership of the finals is going to plummet from what it would've been.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
I just tried to write at least 5 jokes about how nobody watches tennis and none of them read correctly so...
NOBODY WATCHES TENNIS.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
I do. Tennis is a fantastic sport. Just because you don't doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't care for it.
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September 11th, 2015 at 5:03 PM ^
It is a great sport. Too bad it's always had that elitist tennis club thing hanging over it because it's a great competition of strength, strategy and endurance.
September 11th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^
Great sport!
September 11th, 2015 at 4:08 PM ^
Now imagine the guy who paid through the ass for that finals ticket that is now worth a pre-eaten Cheerio.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:42 PM ^
except in Italy.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
Wow. Total choke job by Serena. I've never seen a legendary athlete go into a shell under pressure like that.
Vinci made some great, free-swinging shots, though.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:34 PM ^
When your opponent plays the match of her life?
September 11th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^
Serena missed a TON of easy shots and really tightened up in the third set. It was painful to watch.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
Seemed like the gravity of the moment was too much. I kept cringing as she missed shot after shot. She looked exhausted.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
a pretty historic upset. I'm glad we don't know anything about historic upsets.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:15 PM ^
I was sitting at home working and wanted to record some of tomorrow's games and opened up to this match and started watching....something I would ordinarily never do on a Friday afternoon.
Sometimes you get lucky and small piece of sports history lands in your lap.
As someone said, the interview with Vinci after the match was unusual to say the least and incredibly entertaining.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:15 PM ^
Was at the match. Watching Drake's reaction every time Serena made an unforced error was pretty funny.
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September 11th, 2015 at 3:28 PM ^
Calipari should have warned Serena about what happens when Drake jumps on the bandwagon...
September 11th, 2015 at 3:16 PM ^
Drake after the match...
September 11th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^
Not Johnson.
Not Harris.
Not wearing Maize and Blue.
Not interested!
/semi-s
September 11th, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^
Can someone please explain to me why a fellow Mgoblogger named Kenny Loggins would neg me for posting this thread?
September 11th, 2015 at 3:24 PM ^
He hates Linda Ronstadt
September 11th, 2015 at 3:36 PM ^
I completely missed that...sorry Kenny.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:26 PM ^
beard trimmer died and he can't find the charger and he's taking it out on you?
September 11th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
Nice face job too Kenny (not in this photo, but in current real life).
September 11th, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^
Is that Captain Morgan?
September 11th, 2015 at 3:29 PM ^
Here's an upvote. Kenny has issues man.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:30 PM ^
I believe he only writes children's songs now
September 11th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
I negged you too. I just felt like it. I'll probably +1 you later to break even. I just like clicking things.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
Was entering the danger zone. That is to say, less than 24 hours until Harbaugh homecoming is no time for tennis talk. I agree, but no negs needed.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^
Vinci.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:24 PM ^
100% deserved to win that...she played a flawless third set. I wish Serena would have pulled it off but Vinci played outstanding. Tickets for tomorrow's final went from $271 to $10 within 10 minutes of that match ending.
Also, her post-match interview was great.