In the day’s first upset, Roberta Vinci beat defending champion and third-seeded Petra Kvitova 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Advertisement
Following her victory, Williams admitted to WTATennis.com that she was happy to not know the milestone was approaching: “I’m glad nobody told me before – I would have been a little bit nervous. I had never played her before, so that was also an experience in itself”, she added.
She will next face the victor of the match between top-seeded Simona Halep and Johanna Konta being played later on Wednesday.
Williams continued her fine form by swatting aside World No. 10 Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-4, reports Xinhua.
“It was two hours and 17 minutes of very, very tough tennis for me”.
But interestingly, Venus was unaware of the feat and revealed her first thoughts after realising that she has such a huge number of matches.
But the Italian clawed back, taking the first set in a tie break, and Kvitova struggled in the second – eventually losing on a break of serve. The Serbian former world number one won the first set but it was one-way traffic thereafter as Muguruza suddenly rediscovered her mojo and romped home 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.
Sharapova announced her withdrawal from next week s China Open in Beijing, raising questions over whether the five-time grand slam victor will manage a comeback this season – injuries have kept her off the court since Wimbledon.
Advertisement
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat a top-20 player for only the third time in her career when she defeated fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6). “‘I said, look, I’m going to fight again and see what happens.’ I found my game again”, said Muguruza. Come New York, and the only Grand Slam where Vinci had ever reached the quarter-finals, and she made the finest run of her career, causing the tournament’s biggest upset along the way.
