Serena Williams spent Labor Day doing what she does best, making history. Williams defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in the U.S. Open Monday afternoon claiming her 308th grand slam event win. With that win, Williams surpassed Roger Federer with the most gram slam victories ever.
34-year-old Williams said of her win, “Oh wow, it is really exciting. This is where it all started so it is always so magical out here for me…but 308 sounds pretty good.”
The larger goal would be for Serena to win 311 matches. This would signify her winning the tournament which would be another historical landmark in which she would surpass Steffi Graf (who she is now tied with at 22 major wins) and set a new Open era record of 23 career major wins.
“I just feel like I’m going out there doing what I need to do,” Serena explained to reporters. “I’m not overplaying, I’m not underplaying. I’m just trying to play my way into this tournament.”
Williams will face the No. 5 seed Simona Halep of Romania (who is also the 2014 French Open runner up). Halep said of Williams, “She’s the best player in the world. I don’t have to be afraid or to have emotions because I have nothing to lose. It’s just a huge challenge for me.”
A major factor in Williams’s success thus far has been her serve winning 93% of her first serves facing no break points. Williams said of her success, “I’ve never served this consistently. I’m not going to ask questions. I’m just serving.”