Serena Williams serves at the 2019 US Open on Sept. 1, 2019 in New York City.
Facing almost no resistance in her quarterfinal match against No. 18 Qiang Wang, Serena Williams is now just two wins away from her seventh US Open title.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist made astonishingly quick work of Wang, defeating the Chinese native making her first-ever appearance in the quarterfinals at the US Open, 6-1, 6-0, on Tuesday. Wang upset No. 2 Ashleigh Barty to advance to the quarterfinals, but ran into a buzzsaw in Williams. She ran up a 5-0 lead to start things off before Wang got her first game point and won to make it 5-1, but Williams won the next five games handily. Thirty-eight minutes into the match Williams held a 4-0 lead in the second set and it was over not long after. The win was Williams’ 100th match victory at the US Open, giving her a 100-12 lifetime record.
“It’s really unbelievable, literally, because from when I first started here I think I was 16,” she said. “I never thought I would get to 100. It didn’t even cross my mind I’d still be out here, but I love what I do. I love coming out in front of you guys. It’s so special. I never want to let it go.”
Williams has won the US Open six times and owns 23 Grand Slam titles. Her 24th will tie her with Margaret Court for the most ever in the Open Era. Her next challenge will be facing No. 5 Elina Svitolina, the highest remaining seed in the tournament who beat both Venus Williams and Madison Keys en route to the semifinals.
This will be Williams’ second appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal this year after reaching the final at Wimbledon. This is her seventh Grand Slam tournament and she’s reached the finals in three, including last year’s US Open.
Svitolina is 1-4 against Williams, but the last time they met was at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 when Svitolina upset Williams in the round of 16, denying her the chance to defend the gold medal she won in women’s singles in London in 2012. Williams has four Olympic gold medals.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
