Venus Williams wins 700th career match

There was a landmark victory for Venus Williams at the Wuhan Open on Tuesday, but fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki suffered disappointment.

That was the message to Venus Williams after the seven-time grand slam victor wrote another piece of tennis history Tuesday by recording her 700th career singles victory.

Goerges was battle-hardened but Williams was just too strong on the day, especially her serve.

Two other former world number ones did not fare so well.

This is her first match since her quarter-final exit at the US Open at the hands of her sister Serena.

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 the WTA website after the event. “It was a good match, a quality player”.

Also, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland retired from her match against Camila Giorgi of Italy with a left leg injury.

Martina Navratilova (1,442 wins), Chris Evert (1,309) and Steffi Graf (902) head the list, while Serena Williams hit 700 in April and is now on 737.

Rather than dwelling on a historic achievement, Williams was already thinking about another milestone.

Williams shows few signs of slowing down and she said she now had her sights set on next year’s Rio Olympics, where she will hope to add to her haul of four gold medals. “But it’s been a great 700 wins along the way”.

It won’t get any easier for Williams as she chases win No. 701 on Wednesday against No.7 seed Carla Suarez Navarro, who outlasted Monica Niculescu 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.