Serena Williams loses cool, then match

She already had cracked her racket, lost 12 consecutive points -- and the first set -- to Stosur when the anger and frustration that slowly had been building were suddenly loosed. Trouble was, she had just stroked a vicious forehand that was going to win her the point, but she bellowed "Come on!" before the ball reached Stosur.

That is a classic violation of tennis' intentional hindrance rule, the equivalent of unsportsmanlike conduct in this genteel sport. Chair umpire Eva Asderaki correctly awarded the point to Stosur, who merely got a racket on the ball. That gave her the first game of the second set, a service break that looked for all the world to be the end of Serena.

It wasn't. In fact, for a while, on this 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, it looked like the beginning.

For a few games, Stosur looked overwhelmed. She was broken back immediately, and for a while, Williams seemed destined to win her 14th Grand Slam singles title.

But the muscular 27-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, playing the match of her life, found equilibrium. She rallied to beat Williams 6-2, 6-3, and the last point, a ripped forehand crosscourt winner, left Williams stumbling.

It was an upset of sweeping proportion, only the third title of Stosur's career.

"I'm still kind of speechless," Stosur said more than an hour later. "I can't believe I won this tournament. I did believe I had a chance to win. Two wins over her in the past made me think it was possible.