Serena Williams (No. 1 ) defeats Heather Watson

Serena has written this storybook before, and it almost always ends in a resilient victory. But Serena looked to be on the chopping block in the late moments against Heather Watson, only to bounce back in the way no one else can and win in three long sets.

Serena appeared to be in control after taking the first set, 6-2. But that was far from the case, as Watson stepped up her game in the second set to win it, 6-4, despite 18 winners from Williams in the set.

Winning just seven of her 20 points at the net, Serena went down two breaks in the third set and looked to be done. But she fought back from the shortage, taking the final set 7-5 and further drawing her place in the history books, {ESPN Stats & Info}

There was all reason to doubt for quite some time throughout Friday, but Serena’s victory secured a fourth-round clash for the ages. She'll face her sister Venus Williams, the tournament's No. 16 seed, Sunday, as SportsCenter noted:

Although she's made a name for herself by winning in this sort of fashion, it's fair to question whether or not Serena Williams might drain herself out before the second week of play. Friday's match went a long 2 hours and 14 minutes, and a few more of those could make her gassed when big opponents such as Maria Sharapova come up later in the draw.

For now, she'll be happy just to be around for one more match—especially against her sister.