Williams eyes Graf’s Grand Slam record of 22 wins after dispatching sweet Caroline

They did the cool thing, the classy thing, by bringing Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert out to embellish, or even to authenticate, the occasion of Serena Williams joining their 18 Grand Slam singles victory club on Sunday after Williams toyed with Caroline Wozniacki in the US Open final.

The request was made on the Saturday, Navratilova would say, after standing with Evert in a corner of court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, waiting for Mary Carillo to cue them to the presentation of the championship trophy and a shiny bracelet. Once upon an era, the career-long rivals Navratilova and Evert shared bagels in the locker room before fittingly finishing their careers with the same number of slams. Now it was their turn to hug and welcome into the fold a woman they didn't always shower with praise, didn't always think gave the game enough respect.

"She's doing it now, and it's paying off," said Navratilova after Williams's 6-3, 6-3 trouncing of Wozniacki reasserted her dominance in the wake of flops in each of the year's previous slams. "I think the sky's the limit." How high that sky is for Williams now depends on how one defines the singles record for Grand Slams. Margaret Court, who played in the Open and pre-Open eras, has 24. Steffi Graf is the exclusive Open era leader with 22. Since Navratilova reasoned that Williams' assault on Graf is likely, we can assume where she stands on this.

“That’s what she’s gunning for,” she said, adding, “I don’t see it” to the question of whether Williams might soon run out of inspiration, or gas.

Navratilova won her last Grand Slam, Wimbledon, at 33. But the fact that Williams (turning 33 this month) has played far fewer matches at the comparative age – Navratilova guessed about 300 – made her believe that Williams should have many more wins in her racket.

Williams appears to have no deserving opponent by which to measure her greatness. Martina Hingis, only a year older, won her last grand slam title 15 years ago. The talented Belgian women Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters came and went.

The teenage Maria Sharapova stunned Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final and has since beaten her once. Victoria Azarenka showed promise but seemed to fall short of health and belief. Eugenie Bouchard may have the goods but has much growing up to do.

It’s not that Williams can’t lose; it’s just that there is no one in women’s tennis you expect her to lose to when she steps on the court.

“I just never could have imagined that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina Navratilova because I was just a kid with a dream and a racket,” said Williams.

Now she is right alongside them, in Club 18, but soon will be on her own again. Because another Grand Slam season will begin in five months and nobody in women’s tennis stands anywhere close to Serena. New York Times Service