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Williams reaches 500-win plateau
Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 12:45pm
After sitting and watching Barbora Zahlavova Strycova’s shot float out to end the penultimate rally, Williams got up and whipped a backhand winner down the line on match point to move into the third round with a 6-0, 6-4 victory today.
It improved her career record to 500-104 in tour matches and was her 16th-consecutive match win at Melbourne Park, where she has won five of her 13 Grand Slam titles.
“It’s totally fine. It was my good ankle so I’m good,” Williams said, playing down concern that the fall had aggravated the left ankle sprain which hampered her preparation for the season’s first major.
“There was no extra pain. I twisted it,” she noted. “But it’s all taped up, so the tape really, really helped.”
Her older sister, Venus, has a win-loss record of 589-147 but is missing the Australian Open to recover from illness.
“I knew I had to get there, too, because I do everything she does,” Williams said of reaching the 500-win plateau.
“It’s great, it’s like the ultimate.”
Not quite.
“The first thing I asked, of course, ‘Is there anyone that achieved a thousand?’” added Williams.
There’s been two: Martina Navratilova had a career record of 1,442-219 while Chris Evert retired with a 1,309-146 record.
“I never will get there either, but it’s really cool,” Williams remarked.
“Five hundred is a lot of matches to play, let alone to win.”
Williams won the Australian Open in 2009 and 2010, but didn’t get to defend her title in 2011 because she was injured.
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, won the last men’s title to kick off a stunning season, which started with a 41-match winning streak and finished with three of the four majors and the No. 1 ranking.
His 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Santiago Giraldo of Colombia today was his 16th in a row in majors and keeps him on track to become only the fifth man in the Open era to win three-consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments.
In other action today, Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont. advanced with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 win over Germany’s Philipp Petzschner.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MELBOURNE, Australia—Serena Williams was only two points from her 500th career match win when she tumbled to the court in the second round of the Australian Open.
It’s OK, she thought, it’s the good ankle.
It improved her career record to 500-104 in tour matches and was her 16th-consecutive match win at Melbourne Park, where she has won five of her 13 Grand Slam titles.
“It’s totally fine. It was my good ankle so I’m good,” Williams said, playing down concern that the fall had aggravated the left ankle sprain which hampered her preparation for the season’s first major.
“There was no extra pain. I twisted it,” she noted. “But it’s all taped up, so the tape really, really helped.”
Her older sister, Venus, has a win-loss record of 589-147 but is missing the Australian Open to recover from illness.
“I knew I had to get there, too, because I do everything she does,” Williams said of reaching the 500-win plateau.
“It’s great, it’s like the ultimate.”
Not quite.
“The first thing I asked, of course, ‘Is there anyone that achieved a thousand?’” added Williams.
There’s been two: Martina Navratilova had a career record of 1,442-219 while Chris Evert retired with a 1,309-146 record.
“I never will get there either, but it’s really cool,” Williams remarked.
“Five hundred is a lot of matches to play, let alone to win.”
Williams won the Australian Open in 2009 and 2010, but didn’t get to defend her title in 2011 because she was injured.
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, won the last men’s title to kick off a stunning season, which started with a 41-match winning streak and finished with three of the four majors and the No. 1 ranking.
His 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Santiago Giraldo of Colombia today was his 16th in a row in majors and keeps him on track to become only the fifth man in the Open era to win three-consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments.
In other action today, Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont. advanced with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 win over Germany’s Philipp Petzschner.
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