<p class="title">Serena Williams powered her way to within two victories of a seventh US Open title on Tuesday and while she refused to look ahead there are many willing to do it for her, and what they see is a suddenly open path to a 24th Grand Slam.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'd been a couple steps away at the last Grand Slam, so I'm definitely not ahead of myself," said Serena, the memory of a 3-6, 3-6 loss to Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final still fresh.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I still know that no matter whether I'm in the semifinals or the finals, I have a really long way to go to win that.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Again, that proved to be true at Wimbledon."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Serena has done her part, making her way to the last four with her usual efficiency while throwing in an occasional wobble just to keep things interesting but not scary.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Serena has also received help along the way with others bulldozing the route to Saturday's final clear of some major roadblocks.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When the 36-year-old American first looked at the draw she would have instantly picked out world number one Simona Halep as a potential troublespot, but even before Serena had hit her first ball the Romanian was gone, a victim of a first round upset, eliminating a tricky fourth round encounter with the French Open champion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Spain's double Grand Slam winner Garbine Murgurza was next to go, making a second round exit, and then earlier on Tuesday Serena side-stepped a semifinal showdown with third seed Sloane Stephens when the defending champion was sent packing by Anastasija Sevastova.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 18th seeded Latvian is now the only hurdle standing between Serena and a place in Saturday's final where the other side of the draw has also been cleared of potential trouble with 14th seeded American Madison Keys the highest ranked threat remaining.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Serena's 6-4, 6-3 quarter-final win over Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday was her first over a top 10 ranked opponent since returning to the WTA Tour in March following the birth of her first child.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That's a really big step for me. Shocking, my first top-10 win," said Williams. "I'm here to do my best." </p>
<p class="title">Serena Williams powered her way to within two victories of a seventh US Open title on Tuesday and while she refused to look ahead there are many willing to do it for her, and what they see is a suddenly open path to a 24th Grand Slam.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'd been a couple steps away at the last Grand Slam, so I'm definitely not ahead of myself," said Serena, the memory of a 3-6, 3-6 loss to Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final still fresh.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I still know that no matter whether I'm in the semifinals or the finals, I have a really long way to go to win that.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Again, that proved to be true at Wimbledon."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Serena has done her part, making her way to the last four with her usual efficiency while throwing in an occasional wobble just to keep things interesting but not scary.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Serena has also received help along the way with others bulldozing the route to Saturday's final clear of some major roadblocks.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When the 36-year-old American first looked at the draw she would have instantly picked out world number one Simona Halep as a potential troublespot, but even before Serena had hit her first ball the Romanian was gone, a victim of a first round upset, eliminating a tricky fourth round encounter with the French Open champion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Spain's double Grand Slam winner Garbine Murgurza was next to go, making a second round exit, and then earlier on Tuesday Serena side-stepped a semifinal showdown with third seed Sloane Stephens when the defending champion was sent packing by Anastasija Sevastova.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 18th seeded Latvian is now the only hurdle standing between Serena and a place in Saturday's final where the other side of the draw has also been cleared of potential trouble with 14th seeded American Madison Keys the highest ranked threat remaining.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Serena's 6-4, 6-3 quarter-final win over Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday was her first over a top 10 ranked opponent since returning to the WTA Tour in March following the birth of her first child.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"That's a really big step for me. Shocking, my first top-10 win," said Williams. "I'm here to do my best." </p>