Serena Williams set a new record in women's tennis this weekend by winning her 307th Grand Slam match at the US Open which puts her ahead of previous record holder Martina Navratilova.
Williams qualified for the fourth round of the US Open with her record-setting win yesterday as she looks towards claiming a 23rd Grand Slam singles title. Should she accomplish that, she will surpass another record held by Steffi Graf and make her the most successful female player in the Open Era.
Yesterday's win also equals the record set by Roger Federer in men's tennis.
The US Open would be a fitting tournament for Williams to break two records consecutively. She has only ever failed to make it past the first weekend of the the tournament once in her career. That was in 1998 - the first year that she entered.
Reacting to the news that she is on the cusp of breaking new ground, a humbled Williams told the media:
"To be up there with both men and women is something that’s super rare, and it actually feels good. In my career I have just been, you know, here for so long. Longevity, that already goes unsaid. So it’s just yet another thing, I guess."
"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."
"That's pretty awesome and what a place to do it (The US Open), where everything first started."
A comfortable 6-2, 6-1 over Johanna Larsson of Sweden will see Williams go on to face Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova in the next round.
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