(Daily Mail) – Serena Williams celebrated her 100th consecutive week as world No 1 by taking a step closer to another milestone in the Australian Open.
Williams joined Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert on 18 grand slam titles with her US Open victory last year and a 19th would take her within three of the record held by Steffi Graf.
The top seed will face far tougher challenges than that posed by Belgian world number 106 Alison Van Uytvanck as the tournament progresses, but she was nevertheless delighted to secure a 6-0 6-4 win on Margaret Court Arena.
‘I always have first-round jitters and nerves but it’s good to come out here and win today,’ said Williams, whose current spell at the top of the rankings started on February 18, 2013.