Roberta Vinci’s road to the final
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| R1 | Vania King | 6-4 6-4 |
| R2 | Denisa Allertova | 2-6 6-3 6-1 |
| R3 | Mariana Duque-Marino | 6-1 5-7 6-2 |
| R4 | Eugenie Bouchard [25] | wo |
| QF | Kristina Mladenovic | 6-3 5-7 6-4 |
| SF | Serena Williams [1] | 2-6 6-4 6-4 |
Roberta Vinci defeated just one seeded player en route to her first Grand Slam final, but what a win it was! In one of the greatest upsets in tennis history, she beat world No 1 Serena Williams in three sets and ended her Grand Slam dream.
This is the best match that I played in my life. At the end when I made a break, 4-3, and served, I was a little bit scared. But in my mind, I say, ‘Don’t think about this, because maybe you have more pressure. Stay calm, relax, and breathe during every single point. Don’t think that you have Serena on the other side of the court.
She will face Flavia Pennetta, with whom she won the Roland Garros junior doubles title, in an all-Italian final.
“It’s an incredible moment, but one Italian will win for sure,” said Vinci.
Flavia Pennetta’s road to the final
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| R1 | Jarmila Gajdosova | 6-2 3-6 6-1 |
| R2 | Monica Niculescu | 6-1 6-4 |
| R3 | Petra Cetkovska | 1-6 6-1 6-4 |
| R4 | Sam Stosur [22] | 6-4 6-4 |
| QF | Petra Kvitova [5] | 4-6 6-4 6-2 |
| SF | Simona Halep [2] | 6-1 6-3 |
After victories over 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur and 2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Flavia made a quick work of world number 2 Simona Halep in the semifinal. She was surprised by her own performance:
I never thought I’d be so far in the tournament, so it’s something special. I didn’t play really well in the last week and the feeling was not that good. I just come here and try to practice, try to find the good feeling with the ball, with the atmosphere here, and everything seems to be working.
Flavia Pennetta – Roberta Vinci head to head: 5-4
Flavia leads their head to head 5-4 but it seems tough to designate a favorite: nerves will play a big part in this match as they both will play their first Grand Slam final ever.
| Year | Tournament | Surface | Winner | Score |
| 2013 | US Open QF | Hard | Flavia Pennetta | 6-4 6-1 |
| 2010 | Roland Garros R64 | Clay | Flavia Pennetta | 6-1 6-1 |
| 2009 | Tokyo R64 | Hard | Roberta Vinci | 6-1 6-2 |
| 2009 | Palermo R16 | Clay | Flavia Pennetta | 7-5 6-1 |
| 2009 | Barcelona R16 | Clay | Roberta Vinci | 6-1 6-2 |
| 2007 | Acapulco R16 | Clay | Flavia Pennetta | 6-0 6-2 |
| 2007 | Bogota SF | Clay | Roberta Vinci | 3-6 7-6 6-2 |
| 2005 | Palermo QF | Clay | Flavia Pennetta | 6-1 4-6 7-6 |
| 2003 | Ortisei R32 | Carpet | Roberta Vinci | 2-6 7-6 6-3 |
Roberta or Flavia? Anything can happen today, but the only sure thing is one of the two will become the 4th Grand Slam singles champion from Italy after Nicola Pietrangeli, Adriano Panatta and Francesca Schiavone. The winner will also be the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion.
Photo credit: Maryland Male, Richard Wentworth
Enjoy a few pictures from the 2015 US Open, thanks to Shinya:
From Pete Sampras autobiography, A champion’s mind
The guy on the other side of the net the late afternoon of September 9, 1990, was Andre Agassi – a kid, just like me. And he was easy to find over there in his wild, fluorescent, lime green outfit, and big hair.
I couldn’t know it at the time, but Andre and I would have a historic rivalry and both wind up in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In fact, up to that point in ou young lives, Andre an I had met on a court just four previous times. We were unfamiliar with each other’s games because Andre had played most of his tennis in Florida while I was a California guy.
The first time we played was on a hard court in a twelve-and-under junior tournament in Northridge, California. Neither of us can remember who won that match, but I still have a strong visual memory of Andre. He rolled up with his dad, Mike, in a huge green Cadillac worthy of a mobster. It was fitting, because the Agassis lived in Las Vegas and Mike worked as a pit boss in Caesar’s Palace. Way back then, Andre already had this junior rock star thing going. He was skinny as a rail, but so was I. He already had this junior rock star thing going. He was skinny as a rail, but so was I. He already had that big forehand and those quick, happy feet.
Andre and I were supposed to meet at another junior event. In juniors, you often have to play two matches on the same day, and both of us had won our morning match. But for some reason, Andre and Mike disappeared – just up and left the site, enabling me to advance by default. In our first meeting as pros, on the red clay of Rome in 1989, Andre had waxed me, losing just three games. But I had played him even-up in that Philadelphia match I mentioned earlier.
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