Serena Williams, who has a rare opportunity to be a part of the historic record, can become the fourth women's player to have pulled off the amazing feat of a calendar grand slam in tennis history.
Totally, only five players -- Maureen Connolly (1953), Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988), Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) -- have achieved this stupendous feat.
Serena faces two major roadblocks with the US Open semi finals and finals (if she wins the SF) looming large. Serena Williams will be up against unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci, who has been on a fairytale run in the year's last grand slam, in the last four contest.
Vinci is aware of the magnitude of the match and her opponent, who has been in amazing form where she has been ruthless, irrespective of her opponent. Serena defeated her sister Venus Williams to book a semi-final spot.
However, Serena's eyes will be on the holy grail -- US Open 2015 title -- which has been her favourite grand slam winning the title six times in front of her home fans. Serena has won the title consecutively for the last three years.
Hence on paper, Serena will head into the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium as favourite, but the Italian after having reached so far, will give it her best to hand Serena her first grand slam loss in the year. Can she achieve such a stunning feat?
Unfortunately even history does support Vinci, who has never registered a loss against the American champion. But, the multiple grand slam champion will not take it easy against Vinci and believes the Italian has played well in the competition to reach the final four.
"I'm not going to underestimate her. She played really well. She's not in the semifinals of a Grand Slam for no reason. She knows what to do and she knows what to play." Sports Illustrated quoted Serena as saying.
There have been talks regarding the huge pressure on Serena's shoulders to reach the finals and complete the calendar slam on Sunday, but the top seed is mentally tough, which can be understood by her performances in the last three grand slams, where she has been tested a few times, but came out with flying colours.
Vinci, who will go into the match as a huge underdog, is happy to have reached so far. But one has to give credit to the Italian for having come so far when no one had expected her to face Serena in the last four.
"I'm so happy. I would like to enjoy my semifinal on Thursday. I did not expect one semifinal at the U.S. Open, so I'm really happy," she said.
Where to Watch Live
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Serena Williams vs Roberta Vinci US Open semi final has been scheduled for 7pm local time (4:30am IST, 12amBST, 9am AEST)start.
Indian viewers can catch Serena Williams vs Roberta Vinci semi final on Ten Sports with live streaming option on tensports.com.
UK viewers can watch the Serena Williams vs Roberta Vinci semi final on Sky Sports 1/HD with live streaming on Sky Go.
Viewers in the US can enjoy Serena Williams vs Roberta Vinci semi final on ESPN and online on Watch ESPN.
Fox Sports 4 will offer Serena Williams vs Roberta Vinci semi final in Australia with an online option on Foxtel.
