Serena Williams is two wins from the mother of all tennis records.
Williams, the colossus of her sport, needs one more major title to match Margaret Court’s record of 24, and she moved convincingly into the U.S. Open semifinals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I’d been a couple steps away at the last Grand Slam [Wimbledon], so I’m definitely not ahead of myself,” Williams said. “I still know that no matter whether I’m in the semifinals or the finals, I have a really long way to go.”
Williams served out the match with three aces and an overhead smash to put an exclamation point on a win that avenged her most recent loss at the Open — to Pliskova in the 2016 semifinals. Williams missed the 2017 edition as she gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia.
Her comeback picked up steam when she reached the finals of Wimbledon two months ago, and a performance like Tuesday’s — her jaw-dropping 14th consecutive win in major quarterfinals — moved Pliskova to declare Williams back to her 2016, pre-complicated childbirth level.
Williams scuffled through the start, however, before reeling off eight straight games — the last four of the first set and first four of the second set — in dominating fashion.
“I know she can be off, she can do mistakes,” Pliskova said. “She can also quickly be back in the match with couple games or couple shots. She can hit unbelievable shots. She can hit three aces in a game easily.”
The tangible difference in the match, as it has been on so many memorable occasions in the past 20 years, was Williams’ serve. She teed up 13 aces — part of a 35-12 edge in winners — and 48 percent of her serves were unreturned.
The intangible difference: Williams’ championship spirit and sense of the moment. She faced 12 break points and won 10 of them. Four of those saves came at 4-2 in the second set with Pliskova threatening to get back on serve. Williams erased the break points with four huge serves.
“Doesn’t matter that she’s [No. 17] now — I think she’s still the strongest,” Pliskova said. “She’s not going to give you anything. She’s just going to ace you or play the best points on your chances. That’s just how it is.”
That arbitrary No. 17 seed initially put Williams in a tricky draw. She had to play her older sister, Venus, the No. 16 seed, in the third round; the fourth round presented big-hitting Kaia Kanepi (who bounced No. 1 seed Simona Halep) for a tight three-setter. Pliskova was the first top-10 opponent Williams has toppled since her maternity leave, and it cleared the field of single-digit seeds.
If Williams wasn’t the favorite before the tournament, she is now. But she won’t admit to looking one millimeter past her semifinal opponent, No. 19 seed Anastasija Sevastova. Williams says she’s savoring every step as a career without equal — Court’s numerical standard notwithstanding — winds down.
“I don’t have 10 more years, at least I don’t think so,” said Williams, who turns 37 in three weeks, with a smile. “I said that 10 years ago. I don’t think I have another 10 years of having opportunities to be able to play and win championships. Every match really means a lot to me.”