Serena Williams Makes History — Again — With 300th Grand Slam Win At Wimbledon 2016
Serena Williams didn’t take very long to defeat Annika Beck in Wimbledon today to clinch her 300th Grand Slam victory, powering past the German 6-3, 6-0 in less than an hour of play. The win takes her to round four of the Wimbledon 2016 tournament and racks up a few more records on her behalf.
Serena Williams looked cool and in charge on the courts after a brief slip during her second service game. She spoke to the Guardian after the game.
“I thought it was good. I still want to get out to a little bit of a faster start but I was really focused and calm today.”
Serena Williams — Adversity And Advantage
That calmness comes in contrast to yesterday’s performance and the infamous racket smashing incident reported in the Inquisitr and elsewhere. The American tennis superstar credits the tumultuous win on Saturday in round two against another American, Christina McHale, as giving her an aggressive advantage in today’s victory.
Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, seemed to agree. He spoke to ESPN.com after Saturday’s victory, telling reporters he was glad to see her anger in the racket incident that drew headlines after the match. He called her “too calm” for the French Open loss.
The adrenaline rush seems to have been the edge she needed. In her decisive victory, one of Serena’s serves was clocked at 123 miles per hour or nearly 200 kilometers per hour. The second set was over in just 20 minutes as the unseeded Beck couldn’t match the pace.
World No. 1 @serenawilliams needed just 51 minutes to roll past Annika Beck and into #Wimbledon fourth round. pic.twitter.com/5xU8Q0y0ez
— USTA (@usta) July 3, 2016
According to Mouratoglou, Serena enters a tournament expecting to win, as he explained to ESPN reporters.
“Serena wants to be No. 1. She wants to win Grand Slams because when you win Grand Slams, you are a champion. If she feels she is not a champion anymore, then she will not enjoy it and she won’t play.”
Another Record For Serena Williams
Serena seemed surprised at reaching the 300th Grand Slam mark. She spoke to BBC reporters coming off the court.
“No? Was it? Cool, oh nice. I had no idea, that’s awesome, right? I think that is a lot of matches.”
The figure puts her ahead of fellow American tennis legend, Chris Evert, who reached 299. Next on the list comes Martina Navratilova, at 306. She is one slam behind Steffi Graf’s total of 22 in the run for the title of Most Grand Slam titles in the Open era.
At Wimbledon, Serena Williams has been champion six times in the past, with an overall record of 82-10. She’s third in number of wins to Navratilova at 120 and Evert at 96. Overall in her career, her stats stand at 755-123.
Serena Williams wins her 300th match at a major after defeating Annika Beck in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0. #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/ICfbS9dwgU
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 3, 2016
Wimbledon, Round Four
In contrast with the men’s side of Wimbledon, which saw the surprising upset of top seed Novak Djokovic on Saturday, Williams looks well on her way to defending her Wimbledon crown with the win. She is now one of the final 16 in the tournament.
Serena Williams faces Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova – herself a two-time Grand Slam champion – in the next and fourth round at Wimbledon. Serena told ESPN reporters that she was looking forward to the match. She has won against Kuznetsova in 9 of their previous 12 match-ups, but lost at their last meeting during the third round of the Miami Open in March. This will be their first meeting on a grass court.
Serena William’s Round 4 match is set to begin Monday, July 4 at 1 p.m. Wimbledon time (8 a.m. EST.)
[Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images]
