Year of living on the edge finally catches up to Serena

By Larry Fine NEW YORK (Reuters) - Serena Williams had been a vulnerable conqueror at this year's grand slams, rising up for victory whenever pressed to enter the U.S. Open on track to register only the fourth women's calendar-year Grand Slam. But in her 12th three-set contest of the electrifying run, Williams finally met her match in doubles expert Roberta Vinci of Italy, who ended the American's bid for a share of tennis history with a shocking upset in the U.S. Open semi-finals. Williams, dominating the sport at the ripe old tennis age of 33, had repeated over and over that she felt no pressure in trying to add her name to a Grand Slam list comprised of Maureen Connolly (1953), Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988). She did the same after the stunning semi-finals ouster at Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I don't want to talk about how disappointing it is for me," Williams said softly after her 2-6 6-4 6-4, two-hour loss. Williams looked to be feeling the weight of expectations against 32-year-old Vinci, over-hitting groundstrokes and second serve returns in an effort to overwhelm and discourage the Italian, who refused to shy away from the daunting challenge. It was only the third loss in 56 matches for Williams this year and came against an opponent who had never taken a set off her in four previous meetings and was appearing in her first grand slam semi-final. Yet Williams sounded the same refrain, that mounting pressure was not a factor. "I told you guys I don't feel pressure," she said. "I never felt pressure. I never felt that pressure to win here. I said that from the beginning." Williams has nothing to be ashamed of after an extraordinary season produced triumphs at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon to take her career grand slam total to 21, third on the all-time list behind Court (24) and Graf (22). Her Wimbledon win enabled her to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time for the second "Serena Slam" of her career after also accomplishing the feat after winning the 2003 Australian Open. Yet Williams had to fight through lapses along the way. The world number one was extended to three sets twice at the Australian Open, five times at the French Open and twice more at Wimbledon. The Vinci match was her third three-setter at the U.S. Open and the one that ended an amazing streak of 33 consecutive grand slam match wins. "I made a couple of tight shots, to be honest, but maybe just about two," she said in what seemed an understatement. "Other than that, I don't think I was that tight." Williams uncorked 40 unforced errors, undercutting her 50 winners that included 16 aces. "I don't think I played that bad. I made more unforced errors than I normally would make, but I think she just played really well," said Williams. "She did not want to lose today. Neither did I, incidentally." (Editing by Frank Pingue)