Then-ranked No. 42, Roberta Vinci stunned the world when she upset Serena Williams in the semifinals of the 2015 US Open and ended Williams quest for the elusive calendar Grand Slam. Vinci lost to fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta in the final, but she proved herself to be a top singles player during her time in Flushing Meadows.Now the No. 7 seed, the 33-year-old enters the 2016 tournament with her eyes set on winning her first Grand Slam singles title (she has five doubles titles) and showing her magical 2015 run was no fluke. She opens play against Anna-Lena Friedsam and wouldnt see Serena before the final.We caught up with Vinci this week at the Connecticut Open in her final tune-up before the Open.espnW: You had such an amazing run last year at the US Open. How does that change how you go into the tournament this year?Roberta Vinci: Well, I had a great year last year, I had great results last year at the US Open, I beat Serena [Williams], I have a lot of great memories. But its tough to repeat the same results, but of course I will try my best, and I wont think about my final last year. I know I have a lot of points to defend for my ranking, but I dont want to think about this. I just want to play my game, and go match by match and in the end see where I am.espnW: What did beating Serena do for your confidence last year?Vinci: A lot! When I beat Serena, and got to my first Grand Slam final, it gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season, and also this year. I never changed anything in my game, but I just played with a lot of confidence in myself after that.espnW: A number of people called your win over Serena one of the biggest upsets of all time, what did that win feel like for you standing there after the match?Vinci: Its not easy to beat Serena! It was the best match and the best day of my life. Of course, I didnt expect that win. Serena was, and is, No. 1 in the world but sometimes these things can happen -- something special can happen.espnW: Whats your favorite part of the US Open?Vinci: The crowd. The atmosphere on center court is incredible. For me, the crowd is just fantastic.espnW: Is there anything you just have to do while in New York?Vinci: When Im in New York, I love to go to this small shop. It has Italian coffee. Its close to my hotel and I like to go for breakfast. I go every day. Its just part of my routine now when playing at the US Open. Adidas Zx Flux Sort Danmark . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Køb Yeezy Boost 350 i Danmark . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. http://www.yeezyskodanmark.com/ .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Adidas Zx Flux Danmark . There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris Masters. Yeezy Boost Køb . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. PITTSBURGH --?Steelers?offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert said he doesnt understand reigning MVP Cam Newtons complaints about cheap shots when the?Carolina Panthers?quarterback delivers his own hits to opposing defenders.After absorbing a low hit from defensive tackle Calais Campbell in the Panthers 30-20 victory Sunday over the Arizona Cardinals, Newton said he doesnt feel safe at times and planned to file a grievance over late hits to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell because enough is enough.Gilbert protects Pittsburgh quarterback?Ben Roethlisberger, who is 6-foot-5, like Newton, and has been sacked 450 times in 12-plus seasons.Ben gets hit more than anybody in the league, and he never complains. Cmon, man. This is the game of football, Gilbert said. If youre out there and youre scared to take a shot, then dont be out there, especially if youre a running quarterback. [Defenses] are going to take shots at you. Just the way, his style of playing football, how he celebrates, I guess he gives the guys a chip, like lets go hit the reigning NFL MVP.Gilbert, a six-year NFL veteran who played briefly with Newton at the University of Florida, stressed that Newton is a great player and that he doesnt believe players are trying to intentionally hurt him.But defenders might be trying to affect Newton mentally with physical play as a response to what Newton does during and after successful runs, Gilbert said.When hes running over people, hes going to stand right up and hes going to celebrate, Gilbert said. This is the game of football. Im sure there are cornerbacks or linebackers, whoever hes running over, the safeties, they arent complaining about getting run over or getting crowned, facemask to facemask with the quarrterback from a guy his size.ddddddddddddOf course, guys are going to take shots ... I dont think anybody is trying to purposefully hurt him, but youre going to get those extra hits, especially against such a great player.Newtons playing style came into focus after the quarterback missed Week 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of a concussion. Newton also took several physical hits from the Denver Broncos in Week 1 that did not elicit penalties.For his career, Newton has 637 rushes for 3,398 yards and 46 scores.If you dont like it, then tell the coach or the coordinator to change the whole game plan, Gilbert said. Try to do something to protect you, because back a couple of years ago, when Ben was getting hit a lot, we had to change our offense a little bit, put in a little extra protection to help him stay upright because he is the franchise player.Since 2014, Roethlisberger has averaged less than two sacks per game as part of a quick-strike passing game.That being said, many of the worst hits on Newton have occurred in the pocket.From Newton to Roethlisberger to the Patriots?Tom Brady, the games best quarterbacks will always be a target for eager defensive players, Gilbert said.Im sure all the other 53 guys on that team are hurting just as bad and pretty much take a lot of shots, too, Gilbert said. Look at the running backs, look at the receivers going across the middle, the linemen, you get rolled up on all the time. Its just a football game, bro. Youve got to embrace it, youve got to accept the challenge thats ahead of you, you have to go out there and play ball. ' ' '