US Open 2015: A look at big upsets in women’s Grand Slam matches

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Williams had won 33 consecutive matches at majors, including all 26 this season.

Vinci, a 32-year-old Italian, was unseeded, ranked 43rd, and had never made it past the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament in 43 previous appearances.

Even Vinci called her 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory Friday “a miracle.”

Some of the other big upsets in women’s Grand Slam tennis matches over the past 25 years:

Serena Williams

2012 French Open, first round, lost to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. That was Williams’ only first-round loss at any major tournament. Williams already had 13 Grand Slam titles, including in Paris a decade earlier, while Razzano only twice has even reached the fourth round in 57 majors.

Steffi Graf

1994 Wimbledon, first round, lost to 22nd-ranked Lori McNeil 7-5, 7-6 (5). Graf had won five of the preceding six Wimbledon titles, including three in a row, but became the first defending champion to lose in the first round at the All England Club.

Martina Navratilova

1983 French Open, fourth round, lost to 33rd-ranked Kathleen Horvath 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. Navratilova had won two of the previous three majors and would go on to win the next six Grand Slam tournaments. The defeat to Horvath was the only loss for Navratilova in 84 matches that season. It was Horvath’s first time into the fourth round at a major.

Maria Sharapova

2009 U.S. Open, third round, lost to 70th-ranked Melanie Oudin 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Sharapova already owned three Grand Slam titles by then, including in New York in 2006. Oudin was playing in her fourth major tournament.

Justine Henin

2004 French Open, second round, lost to 86th-ranked Tathiana Garbin 7-5, 6-4. Henin was the defending champion and had won three of the previous four major tournaments. Garbin had only made one fourth-round run at a major.