Nevertheless Williams, who can move past the Open Era record she shares with Steffi Graf if she goes all the way to a 23rd Grand Slam title in NY, will step onto Arthur Ashe Stadium court an overwhelming favourite against the 47th-ranked Larsson, who has never made it past the third round of a Grand Slam.
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“It was a really good match for me because she played a different type of game”, Serena added. Not only has she surpassed Navratilova for most Grand Slam wins by a woman, she equalled Roger Federer s mark for men.
So about that inflamed right shoulder that was supposed to hinder Serena Williams at the U.S. Open as she seeks a record 23rd major title: It sure seems to be just fine.
“My first round, I don’t know, I never hit so many overheads and swing volleys in my life”, she said. What really matters is I got the win.
Williams will go for number 308 and a step closer to what would be a record seventh US Open title when she meets Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova, a 6-2 7-5 victor over China’s Zhang Shuai, in round four.
But she wilted under the raw power of Williams, who forced her into 32 errors and was gifted with 26 unforced miscues in the 78-minute match.
“I think I was playing good tennis from the beginning”, she said.
Williams revealed she first heard about Navratilova’s 307 grand slam singles wins at Wimbledon and says she takes great satisfaction in surpassing it.
“It was something I didn’t even know about until Wimbledon”, Williams said of her Grand Slam milestone, per WTATennis.com.
“Each number I’m definitely most proud of”.
Serena Williams faced Sweden’s Larsson, who she had beaten in straight sets in both previous meetings. “Hopefully I can keep it going”.
One of three players in the mix for the world number one ranking, Radwanska dispatched Garcia 6-2 6-3.
Larsson fell behind quickly as Williams broke her at the first opportunity and again to close out the first set.
Del Potro, who gave Andy Murray a torrid time before losing the Olympic final in Rio, smashed down a total of 37 winners in beating Ferrer to set up a fourth-round clash with ninth seed Dominic Thiem.
Konta admits that she is still recovering from the “traumatic experience” of her second-round match, when she collapsed on court, was hyper-ventilating and needed ice treatment.
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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. “It’s always just fast, easy, fun, and it feels really good”.
