Sloane Stephens Upsets Serena Williams In Australian Open

Nineteen-year-old Sloane Stephens defeated Serena Williams, 31, to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia. It was a truly suprising victory considering the dominant Williams, who hadn't lost in five months, was seeded 3rd in the tournament while Stephens was a distant 29th. But after the 137-minute match the seedings and rankings were of no consequence and it was Stephens who earned the challenge of facing No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals of this Grand Slam event.

At first it appeared as though the match would feature a predictable outcome, but after falling behind early, Stephens was able to lead a furious comeback and defeat Williams.

"I think I was convinced that I was able to do it when I lost serve in the first game in the second set and I went down 2-0. And I was like, 'Hmm, this is not the way you want it to happen,’” Stephens said, ESPN reports. “But you just fight and just get every ball back, run every ball down, and just get a lot of balls in play, I think you'll be OK.' From then on I got aggressive, started coming to the net more, and just got a lot more comfortable. I just kind of played my game from there, I think."

It is worth noting that Williams suffered a back spasm during the second set, which only compounded the star’s injury woes as she had also been nursing an ankle injury. But Williams did not succumb to using her injury as a crutch.

The Stephens-Williams matchup was their second in a span of three weeks. They had last played against each other at the WTA Brisbane International 2013, when Williams seemed to get in Stephens’s head a bit.

—Hal Sundt