up short in the final losing to sixth seed and compatriot Karin Knapp, in three sets. Ranked 38 at the French Open, Vinci lost in the first round to 29th seed Alizé Cornet 6–4, 4–6, 1–6. Vinci began her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic. She was defeated in the first round by qualifier Tímea Babos, 6–2, 6–7, 7–6. At the Eastbourne International, she lost in the first round to Caroline Garcia, 2–6, 2–6. Ranked 35 at Wimbledon, Vinci lost in the first round to Aleksandra Krunić, 2–6, 4–6. After Wimbledon, Vinci competed at the Bucharest Open where she was the second seed and last year's finalist. She lost in the second round to Aleksandra Krunić, 1–6, 1–6. Last year finalist at the İstanbul Cup, Vinci reached the quarterfinals beating seventh seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and qualifier Alexandra Panova. Vinci then lost in the quarterfinals to Magdaléna Rybáriková, 6–0, 5–7, 2–6. Vinci then reached her second quarterfinal at the Canadian Open by defeating Karin Knapp, qualifier Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, and Daria Gavrilova all in straight sets. She then succumbed to world No. 1, Serena Williams, in the quarterfinals 4–6, 3–6. She then lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round at the Cincinnati Open, 3–6, 6–0, 2–6. Vinci qualified for the main draw at the Connecticut Open and easily defeated Eugenie Bouchard in the first round, 6–1, 6–0. She then was defeated in the second round by third seed Caroline Wozniacki, 6–4, 6–7, 7–6. Ranked 43 at the US Open, Vinci won her first three rounds defeating Vania King, Denisa Allertová, and Mariana Duque Mariño. Vinci then reached her third US Open quarterfinal in four years after Eugenie Bouchard withdrew a few hours before their fourth-round match after she slipped and hit her head in the locker room. In the quarterfinals, Vinci defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6–3, 5–7, 6–4 to reach the semifinals. At 32, Vinci became the oldest first-time Grand Slam semifinalist in the Open Era. She then dispatched defending champion Serena Williams in three sets en route to her first Grand Slam final, while also ending Williams' attempt at a calendar-year Grand Slam. Vinci was ranked 42 places lower than Williams at that time. Numerous major media outlets reported about Vinci's win over Williams being one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in the final in straight sets in what was the first all-Italian Grand