Cheered on by her A-list friends Beyonce and Jay-z at Flushing Meadows, Serena Williams produced a mixed performance during her 6-3, 6-3, win over Vania King in the second round of the US Open.
The top seed didn’t face a single break point throughout the 65-minute match, however, Williams was far from pleased with her latest win. Producing a total of 38 unforced errors against King, Williams’ mistakes equated to 78% of total points her opponent won in the match. Furthermore, the world No.1 could only win 47% of her second service points.
“I just think it should have been a different scoreline for me. I feel like I made a lot of errors.” Williams said about her second round win.
“But there’s nothing I can do about that now. What really matters is I got the win. Hopefully I’ll just get better.”
Williams’ visible displeasure with her game didn’t go unnoticed by her opponent King, who has labelled the top seed as a ‘perfectionist’.
“I think Serena’s a perfectionist. She always wants to play her best. … If she doesn’t play really well, she’s always a little bit hard on herself,” King said.
The lackluster performance might not have been her best match, however, the outcome has set another milestone in Williams’ career. Thursday’s win was her 306th in a grand slam, equalling Martina Navratilova. Only Roger Federer has won more matches in the Open Era (307).
“I knew it was on the horizon.” She said about the milestone. “I knew at Wimbledon that I wanted to get there. Obviously I’m excited about that. Would like to take one more step, several more steps.”
Sharing a record with Navratilova is something the brings pride to Williams, who described the former world No.1 as an ‘incredible legend’ during her press conference.
Speaking about her two famous friends in the crowd, Beyonce and Jay-z, Williams explained that playing in front of well known figures doesn’t make her nervous and usually inspires her to rise her game.
“I try to play better, especially if they’re famous and they’re doing so great at their job. It’s like I want to show them that I’m good at my job, too – minus today.” The world No.1 said.
In the third round the top seed faces Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, who recently reached the semifinals of the New Haven Open. She has played the 28-year-old twice before in 2013, winning both matches in straight sets.
