Venus Upends Vinci to Reach Wuhan Finals

October 2, 2015 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Venus_Williams (9)_0

Venus Williams got some revenge for her younger sister Serena on Friday, downing U.S. Open finalist and 15th-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(4) to reach the Wuhan Open final. It was Vinci who ended Serena’s bid for a career Grand Slam in early September in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

The unseeded American opened up a 3-0 advantage in the opening set, only to see the gritty Vinci rattle off seven of the next nine games to take the opening set.

But Venus responded in the second, displaying her power and solid groundstrokes from the baseline to cruise to a 6-2 set victory and force a deciding third.

Venus built a 5-2 lead in the third set but Vinci didn’t go away that quietly. She won the next four games to take a 6-5 lead and was serving for the match, even setting up a match point. After failing to capitalize on the match point, Vinci was broken, sending the match into a tiebreak.

After taking a 6-4 lead in the tiebreak, Venus pounced on her first match point to close out Vinci and move into the Wuhan Open championship for the first time in her career.

“I’m so excited to play in the final,” said Venus. “That was my dream when I came to this tournament, to play the final and have a chance for the title here in Wuhan. Roberta played so well today—she had match point—so it was lucky for me to win this match.”

As is their style of play, Venus ripped 48 winners to just 24 for Vinci, and was the aggressor. She moves on to play Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza.

The fifth-seeded Spaniard defeated sixth-seeded German Angelique Kerber 6-4, 7-6(5), saving nine of 13 break points to move ahead in straight sets.

“It was a really tough match and I had to struggle today,” said Muguruza. “Venus is a legend. I’ll have to go out there and do my best to win against here and I think it’s going to be a great final.”

 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
USTA NTC

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