Sport
Australian Open 2013: Sloane Stephens stops Serena Williams
Averaging more than 170 kph throughout the tournament and with several serves in excess of 200 kph, Williams was barely able to roll her shoulder over, with the sole aim of getting the ball into the service box to begin rallies.
By contrast, Stephens, appeared to suffer a mental block, getting broken when she was serving for the set while Williams, who was now serving less than 130 kph, held to love as the slower paced deliveries affected the teenager’s timing.
Stephens, however, managed to regain her composure and win the next two games to take the set 7-5 and level the match.
Frustrated and in pain, Williams let her anger boil over at the end of the third game of the decider after Stephens had taken a 2-1 lead. Williams twice smashed her racquet into the court and hurled the broken equipment under her chair and the momentary outburst of destruction appeared to work in her favor as she cranked up the speed of her serve again.
Looking more comfortable in her movement, Williams broke to make it 4-3 in the decider but was unable to prevent her gutsy opponent from breaking back immediately. Stephens then held and broke again to seal the shock victory and set up a semi-final against defending champion Azarenka after the Belarusian had beaten Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5 6-1 in the early match on Rod Laver Arena.
