Stosur shocks Serena in U.S. Open final

Samantha Stosur, the underdog from Down Under, came up against the mighty Serena Williams for the U.S. Open title Sunday. Stosur was the owner of no major singles titles, Williams the owner of 13.

Now Stosur has No. 1 and Williams will have to go Down Under in January to get No. 14 at the Australian Open.

In a surprising show of physical and mental strength, the 27-year-old Aussie dominated the women's game's most dominant player, winning, 6-2, 6-3, before a stunned crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I had to believe I had a chance to win," Stosur said. "I think having two victories over her in the past definitely helped me feel it was possible."

With Williams' first serve misfiring and her ground strokes shaky, with Stosur placing her serves well and whacking her ground strokes for winners, the match wasn't as close as the final score.

With Williams serving to start the second set, she hit an inside-out forehand that she thought was going to be a winner. But before the ball landed on Stosur's side of the court, Williams hollered, "C'mon." Stosur managed to get the frame of her racket on the ball but had no chance to return it.

Chair umpire Eva Asderaki of Greece awarded Stosur a penalty point for verbal interference, and that point broke Williams' serve. Tournament referee Brian Earley, asked by television commentator Pam Shriver off camera about the situation, said Asderaki had made the correct call and that such a call was made earlier in the tournament.

Williams approached the umpire and asked if she was the official who cost her "the last time."

That remark seemed to refer -- incorrectly -- to Asderaki as the chair umpire of the 2009 semifinal match against Kim Clijsters at the Open when Williams was called for a foot fault on a second serve. She aimed a profane tirade at the lineswoman who called it, then was assessed a penalty point for unsportsmanlike conduct that was also the match point.

Asderaki was not in the chair for that match, and that penalty point was assessed only after consultation with Earley.

Because of injury and illness, Williams had not been back to Flushing Meadows since. There was no profanity this time, although Williams was jabbering at the umpire all during the next change-over and again at the start of the next game.

After the match, Williams hugged Stosur and didn't shake the umpire's hand. Stosur sat next to Williams and the two laughed and appeared to be having a good time.

"She was cracking them today," Williams said. "She definitely hit hard and went for broke. I think sometimes a lot of people were putting me as the favorite, and I was definitely trying not to put myself as the favorite."

Make no mistake, this was Samantha Stosur's match. Though Williams seemed to get some energy from the argument and raised her level as the crowd got behind her, Stosur remained solid, even though she would be broken in her next service game.

The statistics did tell a story. Williams got in only 35 percent of her first serves in the first set, and made 11 unforced errors. Stosur broke her twice, served 67 percent and hit nine clean winners. From the sixth game of the first set to the first game of the second, Stosur won 13 straight points.

And she dealt well with the penalty point incident. Though Stosur would lose her next serve, she gathered herself and earned a break in the seventh game and broke Williams again in the ninth game for the championship.

"I give her all the credit because she really played phenomenal and she deserved to be the U.S. Open champion this year," Williams said.