Venus Williams Records 700th Career Win at Wuhan Open, Belinda Bencic and Victoria Azarenka Pull Out

Venus Williams beat Julia Goerges at the Wuhan Open to reach 700 career wins on Tuesday, the only active women's player to achieve the milestone other than her sister Serena. (Maria Sharapova retires hurt in first round of Wuhan Open)

The 35-year-old, still winning despite her ongoing fight with Sjogren's Syndrome, said she had no idea she was approaching the milestone before her 6-4, 6-3 victory in China.

"I didn't know. I'm glad nobody told me before. I would have been a little bit nervous," the American told reporters.

She added, with a smile, that her first thought now was how long would it take her to get to 800.

Williams, who is the oldest player at Wuhan and turned professional in 1994, when Goerges was not yet six, becomes only the ninth player to reach 700 wins.

Martina Navratilova (1,442 wins), Chris Evert (1,309) and Steffi Graf (902) head the list, while Serena Williams hit 700 in April and is now on 737.

Williams was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome, an immune system disorder, in 2011 and later switched to a vegan and raw foods diet to curb its symptoms.

This year she won her 46th career title in Auckland and reached both the Australian Open and Wimbledon quarter-finals, losing to Serena in New York.

Williams shows few signs of slowing down and she said she now had her sights set on next year's Rio Olympics, where she will hope to add to her haul of four gold medals.

Meanwhile, Belinda Bencic and Victoria Azarenka joined the growing ranks of walking wounded at the Wuhan Open, when they both retired from their second round matches with injuries.

The pair follow Maria Sharapova -- who retired Monday from her first match since Wimbledon with a new arm injury -- and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard who pulled out before playing at all, saying she had not yet recovered from a concussion at the US Open.