“Hey Venus, welcome to the 700 club!”
That was the message to Venus Williams after the seven-time grand slam winner wrote another piece of tennis history Tuesday by recording her 700th career singles victory.
The 35-year-old joined an elite group of women to have made the landmark after defeating Julia Goerges 6-4 6-3 in the second round of the Wuhan Open.
But it appears that Williams wasn’t even aware of the landmark going into the clash.
“I’m glad nobody told me before — I would have been a little bit nervous,” Williams told the WTA website after the event.
“It was a good match, a quality player. I had never played her before, so that was also an experience in itself.
“I was thinking, ‘How long would it take me to get to 800 now?’ Maybe that was my first thought!
“But it’s been a great 700 wins along the way.”
Williams, who played her first ever professional singles match in 1994, joined an elite group of players to have reached the illustrious target.
Her first ever professional victory was against Shaun Stafford at Oakland — a match she won 6-3 6-4 in 1994.
She has won Wimbledon five times, her last triumph coming in 2008, while she won the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001.
Martina Navratilova leads the list with 1,363 singles victories with Chris Evert in second on 1,011, according to the WTA.
Venus’ sister Serena reached the 700 mark back in April at the Miami Open and is currently on 737.
Other players to have reached the landmark include 22-time grand slam winner Steffi Graf (885), Britain’s Virginia Wade (839), America’s Lindsay Davenport (750), Spaniards Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (756) and Conchita Martinez (719).
