NEW YORK
\nSerena Williams will face Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in her first round match at the US Open following the draw for the tournament made on Thursday.
\nSerena, the 23-time Grand Slam title winner who has hinted she will make the event her farewell tournament, is in the same quarter of the draw as second seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.
\nThe 40-year-old American superstar, whose first Grand Slam title came at the 1999 US Open, would meet Kontaveit in the second round if both win their opening matches at the year\u2019s final Grand Slam event, which begins on Monday.
\nSerena, who is one title shy of the all-time record 24 Slam crowns won by Margaret Court, could have quite a path to the final were she to make a shock run on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.
\nShe could face Canada\u2019s 14th-seeded Leylah Fernandez, a 19-year-old who was last year\u2019s US Open runner-up, in the fourth round and Tunisia\u2019s Ons Jabeur, this year\u2019s Wimbledon runner-up, in the quarter-finals.
\nThe winner from Kontaveit\u2019s quarter of the draw could meet Greek third seed Maria Sakkari or Romania\u2019s seventh-seeded Simona Halep in the semi-finals.
\nThe other half of the bracket features top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, this year\u2019s French Open champion, and Spanish fourth seed Paula Badosa.
\nwiatek could meet US eighth seed Jessica Pegula in a quarter-final while Badosa could face sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka.
\nJapan\u2019s Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, is also in Badosa\u2019s quarter of the draw.
\nShe would meet defending champion Emma Raducanu, the 11th seed from Britain, in a third-round showdown and Sabalenka in the round of 16.
\nThe men\u2019s draw opened slightly with Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, a 21-time Slam singles winner, pulling out just before the draw because he cannot enter the United States while unvaccinated for Covid-19.
\nTop-ranked defending champion Daniil Medvedev will face American Stefan Kozlov in his first match next week while second seed Rafael Nadal starts against Australian Rinky Hijikata.
\nNadal, a men\u2019s record 22-time Grand Slam champion seeking his fifth US Open title, could face Britain\u2019s Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals and countryman Carlos Alcaraz, the third seed, in the semi-finals.
\nDefending champion Medvedev could meet Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals and Canadian sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals.
\nAlcaraz has Polish eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz in his quarter of the draw while Norway\u2019s fifth-seeded Casper Ruud is in Tsitsipas\u2019s quarter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK Serena Williams will face Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in her first round match at the US Open following the draw for the tournament made on Thursday. Serena, the 23-time Grand Slam title winner who has hinted she will make the event her farewell tournament, is in the same quarter of the draw as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-279802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n