Man Or Woman, Serena is The Best Of Them All

06 Sep, 2016

Serena Williams surpassed Roger Federer for most Grand Slam match victories in tennis’ Open era with No. 308, a 6-2, 6-3 win over Yaroslava Shvedova on Monday to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals.

Williams hit a tournament-leading 126-mph serve, pounded 11 aces, won 28 of 30 points when a first serve landed in, and didn’t face a break point against the 52nd-ranked Shvedova.

The top-seeded Williams is 308-42 at major tournaments, a .880 winning percentage, and is now three more wins from her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, which would break a tie with Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era, which started in 1968.

Williams has made it to the quarterfinals in each of her past nine appearances at Flushing Meadows. Last year, a loss to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals ended Williams’ bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam.

Williams next faces No. 5 Simona Halep. Earlier in the day, Halep made the quarterfinals for the second straight year, beating Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets 6-2, 7-5.

Suarez Navarro, seeded 11th, was seeking the sixth Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career.

Venus Williams failed to convert a match point and lost in the fourth round of the U.S. Open to a player a dozen years younger than her, 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.

Pliskova reached the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career by coming back to edge seven-time major champion Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Monday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 24-year-old Pliskova had never been past the third round in 17 previous appearances at majors.

At 36, Williams was trying to become the oldest Grand Slam quarterfinalist since Martina Navratilova was 37 at Wimbledon in 1994.

CBC Sports

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