Stats Corner: Venus Williams set to return to the Top 5 after US Open

NEW YORK, NY, USA - Venus Williams is set to return to the Top 5 for the first time since January 2011. The 37-year-old American booked her return after a gritty win over Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals of the US Open. 

Venus, who first made her Top 5 debut back on July 27, 1998, could climb as high as No.2 if she wins the US Open. 

- The last time Venus was in the Top 3: Week of October 4, 2010 (at No.3).

- The last time Venus was in the Top 2: Week of June 21, 2010 (at No.2, behind No.1 Serena Williams).

- If Venus moves to No.2, she would trail new No.1 Garbiñe Muguruza by only 54 points.

- Venus is defending just 145 points after the US Open. 

Venus, who at 37 years and 3 months is the oldest player to ever advance to the semifinals of the US Open, is in the midst of one of the best Slam seasons of her career. She is the only player to make two major finals and the last time she made the semifinals or better at three Slams in a single season was 15 years ago in 2002. No one on tour has more wins at the Slams this year than Venus, who tallied her 20th win on Tuesday night against Kvitova. 

Thursday's quarterfinals feature an All-American slate of semifinals, with Venus taking on Sloane Stephens (Stephens leads 1-0), followed by Madison Keys against CoCo Vandeweghe (Keys leads 2-0). This is the first American semifinal sweep at a Slam since 1985 Wimbledon, and the first time at the US Open since 1981. Four Americans had previously advanced to the semifinals of a Slam on just six occasions in the Open Era:

- 1985 Wimbledon (Chris Evert, Zina Garrison, Martina Navratilova, Kathy Rinaldi)
- 1983 Australian Open (Zina Garrison, Kathy Jordan, Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver)
- 1982 Australian Open (Chris Evert, Andrea Jaeger, Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver)
- 1981 US Open (Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Barbara Potter)
- 1979 US Open (Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova)

This is not the first time an All-American Slam semifinal of the season. Venus defeated Vandeweghe to advance to her first Slam final in eight years earlier this year at the Australian Open. That win set up the first All-American Slam final since 2009 Wimbledon.