serenawilliams090316Serena Williams never thought she would be playing tennis into her mid-30s. However she kept on playing, and the records just keep piling up.

Serena Williams proved once again that she is the top women’s tennis player in the world. This past Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Williams cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory in exactly one hour against Sweden’s Joanna Larsson to book a place in the last 16 of the US Open.

Saturday’s victory was filled with added meaning, as it marked William’s 307th career victory in grand slam play. This lifted Williams past Martina Navratilova for the most by a female player in the open era.

“Each number I’m definitely most proud of. Like I said, I was really excited to reach that, was it 306? 307? I was really excited to do that. Something I didn’t even know about until Wimbledon. I was like: ‘Oh, I have a new goal.’ That was pretty cool for me. Obviously I want to keep that number going higher and see what can happen.”

The first two points in the match were hard-hitting aces which left 47th ranked Larsson frozen in her tracks. Larsson only managed to get eight points over the second set.

Williams, however, still believes she can do better.

“I feel OK,” Williams said. “Obviously I don’t feel like I’m Serena out there yet, but hopefully she’ll come around the second week.”

On Monday, Serena Williams proved to herself that she always can do better. She did it again and thumped over Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth round of the US Open. Williams collected her 308th grand slam to move past Roger Federer, who is currently injured, for the top spot on the all-time list.
“It’s a huge number. I think it’s very significant actually. I think it’s something that just really talks about the length of my career, in particular. I’ve been playing for a really long time, but also, you know, given that consistency up there. That’s something that I’m really proud of.”
Williams now has her eyes firmly on becoming the first player to win 23 grand slam singles title in the Open Era, which would move Serena within one major of Margaret Court’s all-time record.
Serena will play her next game on Wednesday.
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