Record-breaking Serena Williams powers into quarter-finals of US Open
World No1 Serena Williams beat Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova to set a new grand slam record of 308 victories and march into the last eight of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.
Williams, who had already overtaken Martina Navratilova’s women’s record of 307 wins with victory over Johanna Larsson in round three, beat Shvedova 6-2, 6-3 to surpass Roger Federer’s all-time record. The 34-year-old will now meet Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep in the quarter-final after she dispatched Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5.
It was not a day of unrivalled joy for the Williams family, however, as Serena’s elder sister Venus was knocked out of the tournament by 10th seed Karolina Pliskova. The Czech 24-year-old won a dramatic contest 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
Pliskova was broken while serving for the match at 40-0 but regained her composure to overpower her opponent and reach her first ever grand slam quarter-final.