On the occasion of Serena Williams’ 100th singles victory at the U.S. Open, a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Wang Qiang in just 44 minutes, she was asked if she remembered her first match win at the tournament. To everyone’s surprise, Williams could not recall the details of that initial victory.

She was informed that her first U.S. Open win came in three sets against Australian player Nicole Pratt. However, Williams said this did not ring any bells for her, admitting she would not have been able to guess those details.

Williams reflected on how unimaginable it was, when she made her U.S. Open debut in 1998, that she would one day reach the milestone of 100 match wins at the tournament. She has also won the U.S. Open singles title 6 times, and has 23 Grand Slam singles titles, just one shy of the all-time record. Williams expressed that she never envisioned still being an active player at this stage, but that she loves the sport and has no desire to let it go.

Despite being a few weeks shy of her 38th birthday, Serena Williams’ hunger and drive to win remains as strong as ever. Her game is still at a level where, when healthy, she can make deep runs in most tournaments.

Williams said she felt no ill effects from her recent injury – a rolled ankle suffered during her 4th round victory over Petra Martic. Her dominant performance against Wang Qiang on Tuesday backed up that assessment.

Williams was relentless and overwhelming against her intimidated opponent. The 18th-seeded Wang did not record a single winner and won just 15 points in the match. She managed to win only 4 points on Williams’ serve in the first set and 3 in the second. In the second set, Wang gained just 1 point on her own serve.

In contrast, Williams hit 25 winners and won 90% of her first serve points. The lopsided match was less challenging for Williams than many of her own practice sessions.

Wang Qiang looked nothing like the confident player who had previously upset world #2 Ashleigh Barty and reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set. She acknowledged feeling “a little bit tight” when she stepped out onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium court, and things quickly went downhill from there.

The combination of Wang’s nerves and Williams’ fierce focus was simply overwhelming for her. “The power, I cannot handle it. Just too much for me,” Wang said. She was in awe of Williams’ greatness, saying “I think she’s really great player. Yeah, she [is] just great. I don’t know what to say.”

Williams is expected to face a much tougher test in the semifinal against Elina Svitolina, who has not dropped a set throughout the tournament so far. The 24-year-old Ukrainian extended that streak on Tuesday with a solid 6-4, 6-4 victory over Johanna Konta to reach her second consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, having also made the Wimbledon semifinals this summer before losing to eventual champion Simona Halep.

Svitolina needed two match points to clinch the first set, with Konta’s backhand going long. In the second set, Svitolina had two more match points on Konta’s serve but couldn’t close it out. However, some well-placed winners and an ace allowed Svitolina to seal the victory on her own serve.

Svitolina’s rise through the ranks has been steady rather than meteoric. As she noted, “I was quite consistent, I would say, but I had some tough matches in the round of 16, quarterfinals, before I started to win them. I think it’s been tough and painful losses sometimes, but I think they gave me this push, this confidence, and maybe helped me in some matches.”