Serena Williams will face Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in her first spherical match on the US Open following the draw for the tournament made on Thursday.
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Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam title winner who has hinted she is going to make the occasion her farewell event, is in the identical quarter of the draw as second seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.
The 40-year-old American famous person, whose first Grand Slam title got here on the 1999 US Open, would meet Kontaveit within the second spherical if each win their opening matches on the 12 months’s final Grand Slam occasion, which begins on Monday.
Serena Williams has gained 23 Grand Slams
Williams, who’s one title shy of the all-time file 24 Slam crowns gained by Margaret Court, may have fairly a path to the final had been she to make a shock run on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.
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She may face Canada’s 14th-seeded Leylah Fernandez, a 19-year-old who was final 12 months’s US Open runner-up, within the fourth spherical and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, this 12 months’s Wimbledon runner-up, within the quarter-finals.
The winner from Kontaveit’s quarter of the draw may meet Greek third seed Maria Sakkari or Romania’s seventh-seeded Simona Halep within the semi-finals.
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The different half of the bracket options high seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, this 12 months’s French Open champion, and Spanish fourth seed Paula Badosa.
Swiatek may meet US eighth seed Jessica Pegula in a quarter-final whereas Badosa may face sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, can also be in Badosa’s quarter of the draw.
She would meet defending champion Emma Raducanu, the eleventh seed from Britain, in a third-round showdown and Sabalenka within the spherical of 16.
Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open winner, may meet Badosa within the third spherical.
Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, may meet Sabalenka within the third spherical, that means she may solely face youthful sister Serena in a US Open final, doubtless that means the siblings have confronted one another for the final time in a serious singles draw.
Serena Williams indicated in interviews earlier this month that she is able to transfer on with different areas of her life, together with probably having a second youngster.
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The males’s draw opened barely with Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, a 21-time Slam singles winner, pulling out simply earlier than the draw as a result of he can not enter the United States whereas unvaccinated for Covid-19.
Top-ranked defending champion Daniil Medvedev will face American Stefan Kozlov in his first match subsequent week whereas second seed Rafael Nadal begins in opposition to Australian Rinky Hijikata.
Nadal, a males’s file 22-time Grand Slam champion in search of his fifth US Open title, may face Britain’s Cameron Norrie within the quarter-finals and countryman Carlos Alcaraz, the third seed, within the semi-finals.
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Defending champion Medvedev may meet Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas within the semi-finals and Canadian sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime within the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz has Polish eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz in his quarter of the draw whereas Norway’s fifth-seeded Casper Ruud is in Tsitsipas’s quarter.
Britain’s Andy Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner, is within the Tsitsipas quarter of the draw. Murray opens in opposition to Argentine twenty seventh seed Francisco Cerundolo and will meet Italian fifteenth seed Matteo Berrettini within the third spherical and Tsitsipas within the spherical of 16.
Swiss Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam winner, opens in opposition to a qualifier and will meet Ruud within the spherical of 16.
Australian Nick Kyrgios, the twenty third seed, opens in opposition to compatriot and doubles accomplice Thanasi Kokkinakis with Spanish sixteenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut a potential third-round foe and Medvedev doubtlessly going through him within the spherical of 16.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse