Teenager Bencic stuns Serena in Rogers Cup semifinals

The 18-year-old Belinda Bencic of Switzerland upset world No. 1 Serena Williams 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in Saturday's semifinals of Rogers Cup to continue her impressive debut in the Toronto tournament.

It was Williams' first loss of the calendar year on hard court and second overall as she drops to 20-1 and 43-2 respectively.

Bencic, the world No. 20 player continues her ascend up the WTA rankings as she improves to 19-3 since her second round exit at French Open.

"I can't describe the feeling right now. I was very overwhelmed from the situation on the court, but I'm just so happy the forehand landed in and she couldn't reach it anymore," said Bencic following her victory. "It was an incredible feeling. I have no words."

The victory wasn't always certain, as Bencic started the match down 5-1 after being broken twice by Williams.

"I got killed in the beginning. It was 5-1 in a very short time," said Bencic. "I was not nervous, but she just didn't let me in the match. And then I just tried to fight for every point."

The youngster battled back by breaking Williams for the first time in the match to get the score to 5-3 before ultimately losing 6-3.

Bencic's momentum carried into the second set as both players held serve in the first seven games to give her a 4-3 lead. The two players traded breaks to get the match to 6-5 before Bencic broke Serena in the twelfth game to take the set 7-5.

During the second set, Williams struggled with her serve, committing eight double faults, despite recording nine aces. Entering the match, she averaged 3.3 double faults per match on the season and had committed a total of 10 in her three earlier matches during the tournament.

"I think I read her serve very good sometimes," said Bencic. "In the start she served very good, and then just came out of the rhythm."

Momentum completely swung in Bencic's direction in the third set when she broke Serena in her first three service games to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Williams made a late surge to get the score to 5-4 before being broken for the fourth time in the set.

The victory was the teenager's fifth of the year against a top-ten ranked player. Earlier in the week, she beat world No. 5 ranked Caroline Wozanaki and No. 6 Ana Ivanovic en route to the finals.

"I'm trying to believe that I can really beat the top players now, but it's crazy that I've beat all of them now in this week," said Bencic.

Bencic will face one more top-ten player, Simona Halep of Romania, in the finals on Sunday. Halep defeated Italian Sara Errani 6-4, 6-4 in the other semi-final match earlier in the day.

"She's an amazing player. She's so consistent all of the year and definitely going to be a so hard match," said Bencic of her opponent. "I will look what I can do against her, and I'm in the final and everything that comes is a bonus."

In men's tournament in Montreal, seed No. 1 Novak Djokovic, defeating Jeremy Chardy of France, and No. 2 Andy Murray, beating Kei Nishikori of Japan, will face off in Sunday's final match. Endi