AFP, New York :
Top-ranked Serena Williams can reach the brink of two of the greatest achievements in tennis history Thursday by defeating Italy’s Roberta Vinci and advancing to Saturday’s US Open final.
The 33-year-old American, who already holds all four major titles, is chasing the first calendar Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988 and trying to match Graf’s Open Era career record of 22 Slam singles titles, two shy of Margaret Court’s all-time record.
“There’s always another record. There’s always another person to catch,” Williams said.
“I never really thought I would be in this position where I would even be talking about records, talking about passing Steffi Graf or even mentioning Margaret Court.
“I just grew up trying to be the best that I could and do the best that I could. I worked really hard for everything, so to even be mentioned in that conversation is great.”
If Williams gets past 43rd-ranked Vinci, who has lost all four of their career meetings without taking a set, she will make her bid for history against the winner of Thursday’s other semi-final between Italy’s 26th-ranked Flavia Pennetta and Romanian second seed Simona Halep.
Three-time defending champion Williams, who seeks an Open Era-record seventh US Open title, is 7-0 against Pennetta and 6-1 against Halep in their career rivalries.
Williams has played down the one-year feat, saying she had more pressure completing her second “Serena Slam” than a calendar Slam, but she admitted as she reached the last four “It is important to me.”
Only five players have completed the calendar-year sweep of the Australian, US and French Opens and Wimbledon-Americans Don Budge in 1938 and Maureen Connolly in 1953, Australians Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969 and Margaret Court in 1970 and Germany’s Graf in 1988.
Vinci, 32, suffered her most recent loss to Williams at a Toronto quarter-final last month.
