Tournament-favorite Serena Williams was eliminated by 19-year-old fellow American Sloane Stephens in Wednesday's quarter-finals here at the Australian Open.
Teenager Stephens caused the biggest upset of the tournament as the 29th seed rallied to overcome Williams 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach her career first Grand Slam semifinals.
Williams appeared to hurt her lower back while attempting to pull up short of the net during the eighth game of the second set, which forced the 15-time Grand Slam champion to call for a trainer after the ninth game.
Shephens won the second set when Williams, serving slower than usual, was broken. Williams also had her service broken in the final game of the match.
At 2-1 and on the way to a changeover in the third set, Williams smashed her racket angrily on the court then threw it toward her chair.
Williams lost only one match since her first-round exit at the French Open in a streak that included back-to-back major titles at Wimbledon and the US Open as well as the Olympic gold medal and the season-ending WTA Championship.
The match was billed as a showdown pitting the future of American tennis against the most accomplished player of the present generation.
"This morning when I got up, I was like 'dude, you can do this.' Like 'go and play and do your best,'"said Stephens.
"And I was convinced that I was able to do it when I lost serve in the first game in the second set and went down 2-0. I told myself that this was not the way I want it to happen," said the 19-year-old, who used to have Williams' poster on her bedroom wall.
"I just fight and get every ball back, run every ball down, and just get a lot of balls in play," she said. "From then on I got aggressive, started coming to the net more and just got a lot more comfortable. I think I just played my game from there."
"I think I'll put a poster of myself up now," Stephens added.
"Stephens is a good player. She runs fast and gets a lot of balls back. That's always a plus to have in your career," said Williams.
The microphones on the court picked up Williams saying that this had been the worst two weeks for her.
"I've had a tough two weeks between the ankle, which is big every day. And my back, which started hurting," Williams admitted. "It is the worst couple weeks I've had at a Grand Slam. I'm almost relieved that it's over because there's only so much I felt I could do."
