By Richard Pagliaro
Hunting for history on the US Open hard courts, Serena Williams is undecided on playing Roland Garros' red clay later this month.
The third-seeded Williams fought off Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 scoring her 100th career win on Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the US Open quarterfinals.
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Williams will continue her quest to match Margaret Court's all-time major record by winning her 24th Grand Slam crown in Flushing Meadows.
Asked if she is committed to playing Roland Garros, which is set for September 27th-October 11th, Williams was non-committal.
"I'm honestly taking it one day at a time," Williams said. "I'm going to have to make the best decision for my health.
"You know, obviously maybe it will be good for me to talk to the organizers just to see how that works with the crowd and how we will be protected."
The three-time Roland Garros champion owns an apartment in Paris and has often called the City of Light one of her favorite cities, however the housing policy could be a stumbling block to Serena's return.
Roland Garros organizers announced today all players will be required to stay in one of two player hotels in an effort to reduce the risk of a Coronavirus outbreak.
"To comply with health and safety constraints, all players will have to stay in one of the two hotels offered by the tournament organization," the French Tennis Federation announced. "The spaces and services to the players will be adapted to the sanitary conditions related to the Covid-19 crisis."
The former world No. 1, who typically stays at her home in Paris during the event, has been staying at a private home during the US Open.
"I was hoping to stay at my apartment in Paris, but, you know, I'm just taking it a day at a time," Williams said. "I feel the French, they are doing the best that they can. You know, it's hard. Every organization, every country is trying to do the best that they can in this pandemic, so I can't point fingers and tell them what to do, because I'm not running the tournament."
Still, given Serena's past health issues, and the fact she travels with her young daughter, Olympia, she said she will think about Paris.
"Well, if there are fans, then we should be able to stay elsewhere, then," Williams said. "Yeah, that's interesting, because there is no private housing but there's fans.
"But I kind of knew that. It's just for me I'm super conservative because I do have some serious health issues, so I try to stay away from public places, because I have been in a really bad position in the hospital a few times. So I don't want to end up in that position again, so I don't know."
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