By Adrianna Outlaw | Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Venus Williams beat Julia Goerges to score her 700th career victory and become the ninth woman in the Open Era to join the 700 club.
Photo credit: Wuhan Open
Venus Williams reached a career milestone rolling into the Wuhan Open third round.
Williams swept Julia Goerges, 6-4, 6-3, to earn her 700th career match victory.
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It was a powerful performance from the former world No. 1. Williams saved three of four break points she faced, hit four aces and held in nine of her 10 service games.
Williams is the ninth woman in the Open Era to join the elite 700 club.
"I'm glad nobody told me before—I would have been a little bit nervous," Williams told WTA Tennis.com afterward. "It was a good match, a quality player. I had never played her before, so that was also an experience in itself."
The 35-year-old Venus joins Martina Navratilova (1,442 wins), Chris Evert (1,309 wins), Steffi Graf (902 wins), Virginia Wade (839 wins), Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (759 wins), Lindsay Davenport (753 wins), Conchita Martinez (739 wins) and younger sister Serena Williams (737 wins) in the exclusive group.
Rather than dwelling on a historic achievement, Williams was already thinking about another milestone.
"I was thinking, 'How long would it take me to get to 800 now?' Williams said. "Maybe that was my first thought. But it's been a great 700 wins along the way."
Williams will play seventh-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro for a quarterfinal spot. Suarez Navarro rallied past Romanian Monica Niculescu, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.