Serena Williams allowed herself a moment to savour a third straight US Open win on Sunday, but only a moment.
Just three hours after securing her 18th grand slam title with a dominating 6-3 6-3 win over Caroline Wozniacki, the world no.1 soaked up the accolades and applause and then admitted that she was already thinking about number 19 and third spot on the all-time list now held by Helen Wills Moody.
“I am thinking 19,” said Williams, who shares fourth on the list with Chris Evert and Martina Navra-tilova. “Hasn’t even been three hours and I have already mentioned 19. Oh, gosh, but not 22.
“I’m taking it one at a time.”
Williams will celebrate her 33rd birthday this month and clearly has plans to celebrate many more grand slam titles as she climbs further-and-further up the rankings.
Moody, at number 19, is the next target but just ahead sits Steffi Graf on 22 and just ahead her is the great Margaret Court who tops the list with 24.
Until Sunday it did not look as if Williams would add to her grand slam haul this season.
She had added five tournament titles to her collection this season, coming into the US Open with her career total at 62, but at the grand slams she had fallen flat, failing to get beyond the last 16 in any of the first three majors.
However, if there was any thought that Williams’s career was on the decline she erased it with a stunningly ruthless performance, confirming herself as the Queen of Flushing Meadows.
In claiming her sixth US Open and third straight, Williams did not drop a set and never lost more than three games in any of them, capping off her run to the title with a ruthless 75 minute demolition of her one of her best friends to the delight of her fans who packed Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
“I just could never have imagined that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina Navra-tilova, because I was just a kid with a dream and a racquet,” said a humble Williams.
Williams’s rise from the Los Angeles ghetto to top of her sport is a tennis fairytale and despite des-cribing herself as a “simple” woman, those who have faced her on the court understand that she is something quite exceptional.
“I don’t believe that talent can beat everything,” said Wozniacki.
“She works hard every day, just like us, but when she needs to she can pull out that big serve. She has the power.”
After nearly two decades of amassing records and titles Williams is still driven by the pursuit of excellence and the thrill of victory.
This marks a record 15th straight year she has won at least one singles or doubles tennis grand slam tournament and with her win on Sunday she became the second woman in the Open Era to win three consecutive US Open titles.
Next year she will return to Flushing Meadows looking to match Evert’s record of four, set from 1975-78.