WHAT HAPPENED: On a night of champions, 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams opened the Arthur Ashe Stadium program Tuesday with a virtuous performance, beating Qiang Wang, 6-1, 6-0 to reach the 2019 US Open semifinals.
It will be the 13th appearance in the Open final four for the six-time winner. This was her 100th match win here, coming 30 years to the day when Hall of Famer Chris Evert won her tournament record 101st win.
“It never crossed my mind that I would get to 100,” Williams told the fans.
A packed house filled the big stadium for the starry night that also featured the men’s all-time winningest Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in his quarterfinal against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
The A-list celebrities in the audience included golfers Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, Hollywood stars Amy Schumer, Vanessa Williams and Queen Latifah and former Yankee manager Joe Torre.
There was little drama against the No. 18 seed Wang, the first Chinese player in the final eight since Shuai Peng in 2014, in a 44-minute showcase of near perfect tennis from the 37-year-old Williams. It was like the American star was throwing a baseball no-hitter—the match was the shortest singles match of the tournament.
Williams lost just 15 points. In the second set, Wang managed to win just four points. Williams had 25 winners while Wang had none. The only game Wang won was the sixth.
“I knew that I had to step it up or go home,” Williams said of her mindset coming into the match against Wang, who had upset reigning French Open champion and No. 2 Ashleigh Barty to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. “I want to stay here, so I knew that I needed to play really well.”
Williams will look to keep that level of tennis going against No. 5 Elina Svitolina on Thursday. Svitolina reached the Wimbledon semifinals this season and won the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in 2018. Williams holds a 4-1 career mark in matches against the first Ukrainian in the Open semifinals.
WHAT IT MEANS: Williams was not really tested physically in the match, so it was not a true indicator of how her right ankle is doing after she rolled it pretty severely during her previous match. But neither Williams nor her coach Patrick Mouratoglou seemed to be worried about her health for the rest of the tournament.
“It’s good, she got a lot of treatment,” Mouratoglou said prior to the match. “It’s not going to be an issue.”
After the match, Williams added: “I am feeling good, I am still here. Physically I am feeling great, and more importantly I am having fun every time I come out here.”
MATCH POINT: On paper, Williams is a heavy favorite to win her 24th Grand Slam crown to equal the all-time mark set by Hall of Famer Margaret Court. No player left in the field has won a Grand Slam title. But Williams hasn't won a Slam since the 2017 Australian Open. She lost in last year’s US Open and in the Wimbledon final this year. But perhaps this Saturday could be her day?
