World No. 1 Serena Williams marched to her sixth consecutive semifinals appearance at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows New York on Wednesday.

The five-time tournament champion Williams walked onto the court of the Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing a firece leopard print dress from her clothing line to the cheers of the crowd late afternoon.

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The American defeated Italian Flavia Pennetta in straight sets 6-3 6-2 to win her 19^th consecutive match since losing in the finals against Australian Samantha Stosur in 2011.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion delivered seven service aces and 31 winners to finish the match in just over an hour.

The hard-hitting Williams will face Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the semis who defeated last year's runner-up Victoria Azarenka earlier in two straight sets 6-4 6-2.

Williams, 32, hopes to achieve her 18^th major title in order to tie tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert in the all-time list of most Grand Slam titles.

The women's player who has won the most major titles is Margaret Court with 24 followed by Stefi Graf with 22.

She also seeks to become the second female tennis player to win the US Open in three straight years.

Williams seemed to have recovered from her right foot problems who sought medical assistance during her doubles match loss Tuesday along with sister Venus against Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

Oddly enough, the tireless Makarova have won two singles matches against Eugenie Bouchard who felt "light headed and dizzy on the court" while Azarenka complained of food poisoning before her match with the Russian.

Makarova also won her doubles matchup against the Williams sisters, again with an untimely circumstance of Serena complaining of right foot problems.

With Penneta out, the 17^th seed Makarova is now the only player who is still participating in both doubles and singles competition.

Is Makarova in tiptop shape to play every day in the wild weather conditions on the outdoor courts of Fushing Meadows or the other players just couldn't handle the heat?

Tagsserena williams, Flavia Pennetta, Ekaterina Makarova, Victoria Azarenka