Serena Williams breaks Navratilova's record with third-round win advances into US Open fourth round
Serena Williams on Saturday has added another record to her many records.Williams beat Sweden's Johanna Larsson, 6-2, 6-1, in the third round of the U.S. Open to become the all-time leader in women's singles career Grand Slam match wins.
It was the 307th major win for Williams, breaking the women's Open era record held by Martina Navratilova and pulling her into a tie with Roger Federer for the most ever regardless of gender.
"Wow. That's pretty awesome, and honestly what a better place to do it than here, where everything first started," Williams said after the match.
Williams, 34, is seeking her 23rd career major title, which would set a new women's Open era record. She's currently tied with Steffi Graf atop the list. A win at this year's U.S. Open would be Williams' seventh, which would break a tie with Chris Evert for the most ever.
Williams was dominant in her first- and second-round matches at the U.S. Open, and Saturday was more of the same. She opened up to a 3-0 lead in the first set against an overmatched Larsson and never looked back.
"It was a really good match for me, because she played a different kind of game," Williams said. "It was really good for me to have a different type of rhythm and just move the ball around. So overall it was pretty good."Six sets played, six sets won.@serenawilliams dispatches #Larsson to move safely into week two. #usopen@MBUSAhttps://t.co/a2JWJ56Rpy— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2016
Despite battling a shoulder injury, Williams took home her seventh Wimbledon singles title in July to tie Graf's career Grand Slam record. She's coming off a third-round loss at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and entered the U.S. Open having played only three matches since Wimbledon.
Williams has said that the shoulder injury has been stable thus far at the tournament, and it certainly doesn't seem like it has effected her play.
She'll face Yaroslava Shvedova on Monday in the Round of 16.