The 23-time Grand Slam champion is currently the highest-ranked player at the Western & Southern Open. Serena Williams defeated Arantxa Rus after a 3-hour battle in the 2nd round. She will be facing Maria Sakkari in the 3rd round as she says that she's ready for anything.

"Now I feel like I have passed that test, and now I can pass the test at the Open, playing Ashe Stadium," Serena Williams said in her post-match press conference. "At one point I was pumping my fist and saying, 'Come on!' I had a crowd in my head or something! It was actually funny to me. I don't know. For me, it was like there was a crowd there."

"It's a different atmosphere," she said of playing the Western & Southern Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, typically the home of the US Open. "It's different. I don't know. It feels like I'm back in, like, juniors but at a bigger level in a weird way, because it brings you back to the '80s. Yeah. Wow, that's a long time ago."

"Physically I feel like I'm incredibly fit. I did hit a wall today in the second set. I was so hot. That never happens. Tennis is mental. You know, it's all mental. I'm taking it a day at a time. I'm going to see how I feel tomorrow obviously. But I'm ready. I'm excited," Williams said. "I'm actually super fit and I'm super ready. I feel like I'm ready for anything. I think the reason I wanted to be super fit was because it is six weeks in a row basically playing tennis every day, so this is a really good opportunity for me to get ready and be super ready for clay, as well."

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