Serena Williams' conqueror Roberta Vinci has had to postpone a flight home in order to play in her first grand slam final at the US Open.
Vinci, unseeded at Flushing Meadows, inflicted one of the greatest shocks in tennis history as she ended Williams' hopes of a calendar Grand Slam with a stunning 2-6 6-4 6-4 win.
The result ended Williams' run of 33 consecutive grand slam victories while world number 43 Vinci will face Flavia Pennetta in the first all-Italian major final of the Open era.
"I can maybe touch the sky with my finger," Vinci said after the match.
"Maybe if yesterday you had told me, 'Okay, tomorrow you can win against Serena, I say, 'Come on'.
"Yesterday I called my travel agency to say, 'Okay, book me a flight, because you know...'. And now I have my final tomorrow. It's incredible.
"I played second today and I didn't want to have to leave quick. So okay, I lose today against Serena and tomorrow [Saturday] I will go home.
"What time was my flight? 10pm in the night. So maybe I can (still make it). Maybe I can, eh?"
Vinci has lost her last two meetings with Pennetta, and her world number 26 compatriot will start the final as favourite after beating a below-par Simona Halep 6-1 6-3 in the semi-final.
"It will be a tough match for both," Vinci said.
"I think a lot of pressure but we know each other for a long time. I played against her three or four years ago and I lost on the centre court.
"I remember that I was completely scared, like a little bit blocked. I didn't play.
"So I hope that tomorrow I will enjoy and play my game, and not be so stressed or tight because it's a final. It's normal. Come on. Enjoy. That's it."
Pennetta's surprise win over second seed Halep meant Williams needed only to beat two veteran Italians to hold all four major titles in a single year.
She would have become the first player to achieve the calendar Grand Slam feat since Steffi Graff in 1988 and only the fourth woman to do so in history.
"I don't want to talk about how disappointing it is for me. If you have any other questions, I'm open for that," said Williams as she began her post-match press conference, which lasted less than four minutes.
"She played the best tennis in her career. She's 32 and she's going for it at a late age. So that's good for her to keep going for it and playing so well.
"Actually, I guess it's inspiring. But I think she played literally out of her mind."
Also in action on Saturday is Britain's Jamie Murray, who is bidding to win his first men's doubles title alongside Australian John Peers, as the duo take on French pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Murray and Peers lost in the final at Wimbledon in July but are confident they can go one step further in New York.
"Both teams are playing well, they've played a lot of great tennis this week," Murray said.
"We've watched them on the big screens and they've been playing well but we're playing good tennis too.
"It's probably a 50-50 match, I don't think there are any favourites."
