World No. 1 Serena Williams continued her cakewalk through the early stages of the U.S. Open on Saturday when she dispatched Johanna Larsson, 6-2, 6-1, in third-round play at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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Williams’ second-round win over fellow American Vania King brought her level with Martina Navratilova’s record of 306 grand slam wins.
“It was something I didn’t even know about until Wimbledon”, Williams said of her Grand Slam milestone, per WTATennis.com.
Serena Williams powered to a record 307th Grand Slam match win on Saturday to reach the fourth round of the US Open.
“That’s pretty awesome and what a place to do it, where everything first started”, said the 34-year-old.
The 34-year-old won her 22nd major triumph at Wimbledon this summer and now sits level at the top of the Open era list with Steffi Graf. The 28- year-old has assured herself a career-high ranking after matching her furthest journey into a major tournament with Thursday’s second-round win over the Czech Denisa Allertova, but will be a heavy underdog against Williams at a tournament where she has won 28 of her last 29 matches. “It was really good for me to have a different type of rhythm and just move the ball around”.
Serena also tied the record for the most consecutive weeks at No.1 with German legend Steffi Graf and admitted to using Cup Therapy as a mode of relaxation. “You have to be ready to grind and it’s not pretty but I got a good workout in there”.
The 11th-seeded Spaniard’s 6-4, 6-3 victory over the 20th-seeded Vesnina marks the third time she has reached the fourth round or better at Flushing Meadows.
Suarez Navarro next faces fifth-seeded Simona Halep who defeated 31st-seeded Timea Babos.
She’s a robust 4-0 lifetime against Shvedova, so it would be quite a surprise to see the world’s top-ranked player drop a set, much less lose outright, as she seeks to make amends for last year’s semifinal exit at this event.
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Sixth seed Venus Williams, whose seven Grand Slam titles include US Open crowns in 2000 and 2001, opens the night session on Ashe against 26th-seeded Laura Siegemund.
