Serena's Grand Slam quest will have to wait another day
NEW YORK – Serena Williams will have to wait one more day to continue her quest for the calendar Grand Slam.
With rain continuing throughout the day and forecasted to last all night, the USTA announced at 3:05 p.m. ET that the women's semifinal matches scheduled for Thursday evening will be pushed back to Friday morning.
Williams will face Roberta Vinci in the first match, starting at 11 a.m. (ET). They'll be followed by Flavia Pennetta and Simona Halep.
The match is a tall order for surprise semifinalst Vinci – unless Williams starts to beat herself.
The six-time U.S. Open champion looked shaky in the first week, but, as she always manages to do, she found her form in time for the fourth round. She's always better in the later rounds. She dropped a set to sister Venus in their quarterfinal match, but was superb in the two sets she won. That's the Williams fans should expect to see on Friday morning.
Vinci's run through the draw was helped by Eugenie Bouchard having to withdraw from their fourth-round match. That leaves the Italian more rested than Williams, perhaps her only advantage. Ranked 45th, she is only one year younger than Williams, but has had a wholly different career. This is her first grand slam singles' semifinal.
Williams has won all four of their previous matches, including a straight-set win earlier this summer. “I'm not going to underestimate her. She played really well," Williams said Tuesday when asked about that recent meeting. "She's not in the semifinals of a Grand Slam for no reason. She knows what to do and she knows what to play.
"I just think it was great that I played her because I kind of know what to expect, and I'll be more ready for it this time."
The men's semifinals, orginally scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday, will now start at 5 p.m. Roger Federer will face fellow Swede Stan Wawrinka, while Novak Djokovic takes on defending champion Marin Cilic.
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Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.
