The No.1 seed and one of the most successful professional tennis players in the world, Serena Williams surprised the audience when she lost to an unseeded player, Roberta Vinci, during the semifinal round of the 2015 U.S. Open. As shocking as it seemed, the result was official, and Serena devastatingly lost her chance to win the Calendar Grand Slam title that was long anticipated.

The result was unexpected for Williams, who has lost only two matches in all of 2015. With the loss of the No.2 seed Simona Halep, the defeat of Serena’s biggest threat, Victoria Azarenka, and the injury of Maria Sharapova, the pressure for Serena to win was extremely high; followers, commentators, and the majority of Americans believed that Serena virtually won the title after Halep’s defeat.

Serena Williams was attempting to become the second women in Open era to complete a Calendar Grand Slam, something only Steffi Graf has done. A Calendar Grand Slam is a consecutive win in the four major tournaments in tennis, which include the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open; titles from all four tournaments in nonconsecutive years would be referred to as a single Grand Slam. While Williams was one tournament away from reaching her career’s highest peak, Roberta Vinci had never been beyond the quarterfinals in any Grand Slam event.

Kristie Hong ’16, disappointed by Williams’s performance, remarks, “Her loss at this year’s U.S. Open has to be one of the biggest upsets in Open era; it wasn’t so much a matter of the seeding difference as it was given the high stakes of a Calendar Grand Slam and Serena’s unbelievable performance throughout the whole season. The last thing I expected was for an unseeded counterpuncher to take out the defending champion.”

To her credit, Roberta Vinci played a brilliant and composed match. While Williams played her best when she secured the first set with a 6-2 win against Vinci, she committed some uncharacteristic unforced errors at crucial moments in the match, which resulted in her loss of 4-6, 4-6 to Vinci in the last two sets.

Kevin Yan ’16, captain of the Ridge Tennis team, reflects, “Vinci deserved to win but it was more of Serena defeating herself than Vinci actually winning. Sometimes overconfidence can lead to downfall, although Serena may have not been entirely prepared for the match because of the gap day in between the quarters and semis.”

Although Williams’s loss disappointed many Americans, a positive result may be the effect on other players and their chances of winning. In fact, many critics remarked that her loss will not affect Williams as much as it will push the other players to challenge her after realizing that she isn’t invincible. This may shape the women’s tennis field and make it more competitive and interesting in the years to follow.

Sowmya Mannimala ’17, who regards Serena’s failure as a temperate loss, suggests, “If we look at Roger Federer, hasn’t gotten to the finals in 6 years at the US Open, and Williams, who only lost one of her many titles, victory can’t always be in the hands of one person every time.”

For highlights of the match between Williams and Vinci, click to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSi2nHidLsI