Serena Williams surprised at Miami Open after notching career win No 700

The World No 1 claimed her landmark career victory after overcoming a second set wobble to defeat Sabine Lisicki in the Miami Open quarter-finals.

Serena Williams celebrates after winning a point against Sabine Lisicki, of Germany, during their match at the Miami Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla., Wednesday, April 1, 2015. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)Show less

World No 1 Serena Williams claimed a landmark 700th career victory after overcoming a second set wobble to defeat Sabine Lisicki in the Miami Open quarter-finals.

The 19-time grand slam champion edged a first set tie-break against her 27th seeded opponent, who then took advantage of Williams’ inconsistency to take the match to a decider.

Williams had uncharacteristically made 17 unforced errors in the second set alone but bounced back against the German in the third, opening up a 3-0 lead before triumphing 7-6 (7/4) 1-6 6-3.

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She is the eighth woman in the Open era to reach 700 match wins - although she is still well behind the record holder Martina Navratilova, who claimed 1,442 career victories.

The American, 33, was presented with a cake following the match but admitted she was oblivious to her record.

“I had no idea,” Williams said on the WTA Tour website. “I saw them bringing out a cake and I thought, ‘Whose birthday is it today?’ But I really had no idea about it, so I’m really excited right now.”

Williams was less enthusiastic about her performance against Lisicki, adding: “Today wasn’t my best day. I wasn’t serving the way I normally serve or hitting the way I normally hit, so all I could do was just fight and try to give 200 per cent instead of 100 per cent.”

In the men’s draw, Andy Murray, who brought up his 500th victory on Tuesday, was a given a stern test of his credentials by unseeded 21-year-old Dominic Thiem.

The Austrian was playing in his first Masters quarter-final but showed no signs of any nerves against the 2009 and 2013 champion.

Thiem took the first set and fought back from a break down in the second, but third seed Murray showed all of his experience to take the tie to a decider before outlasting his opponent to seal a 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory.

Eighth seed Tomas Berdych claimed a straight-sets victory over Juan Monaco of Argentina to claim his spot in the semi-finals.

The 29-year-old Czech claimed a 6-3 6-4 triumph in 92 minutes in search of his 11th career title.

While, elsewhere in the women’s draw, last year’s French Open finalist Simona Halep saw off America’s Sloane Stephens to advance to the last four.

Third seed Halep of Romania recorded a 6-1 7-5 win in an hour and 15 minutes to set up a clash with Williams.

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