“I was just so angry,” Serena Williams finally breaks silence on her shocking defeat to Roberta Vinci at 2015 US Open despite being forbidden by her therapist
Serena Williams revealed how hurt she was after losing to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals despite having 21 Grand Slam titles to her credit.
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Serena Williams (via Imago)
American tennis legend Serena Williams has registered numerous famous wins throughout her career, securing 23 singles Grand Slam titles and leaving an everlasting impact on the game. However, with triumphs also come defeats, and a few losses still sting for Serena. One such defeat came in the 2015 US Open final.
She lost to Roberta Vinci in three sets at a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, shattering her dreams of achieving a 22nd Grand Slam title, just two short of Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24. The loss also denied her a seventh US Open women’s singles title, which would have surpassed Chris Evert‘s record, and the chance to win the elusive Grand Slam, making her the first singles player to do so since Steffi Graf in 1988.
While Vinci was over the moon hailing it as her best moment, Williams was in deep agony, still processing how she lost to a player whom she had beaten four times before. Serena was distraught to such an extent that she was forbidden by her therapist to talk about this defeat.
Serena Williams recounts losing to Roberta Vinci at 2015 US Open
While Serena Williams was not allowed to speak about her heart-wrenching defeat to Roberta Vinci at the 2015 US Open, the 42-year-old made an exception and spoke about it while featuring in the documentary series for ESPN, ‘In the Arena‘.
Williams revealed that the defeat made her realize that life doesn’t always have a movie-like ending. Despite already having 21 Major titles, the 23-time singles Grand Slam champion admitted that she was deeply disappointed in herself after that loss.
It doesn’t end the way it does in the movies. No matter how much I feel like it could and it should… no matter what I could’ve done differently, it wasn’t my story...I don’t think I was able to move on from that US Open loss. I was just so angry and just so sad and disappointed in myself… said no one with 21 Grand Slams (at the time). But it wasn’t enough for me.‘Serena Williams admitted while speaking for ‘In the Arena’Serena Williams admitted while speaking for ‘In the Arena
Notably, Williams was the outright favorite to win the tournament at that time. The then world No. 1 was on an incredible run, amassing a 33-match win streak at the majors, including titles from the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the previous year’s US Open. She was on the verge of completing a Calendar Grand Slam, but it was just not meant to be.
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Ritesh Pathak
(2150 Articles Published)