Serena Williams will have to overcome her shoulder for shot at history

She will also have the opportunity to win her 23rd Grand Slam title-a new record which would surpass Steffi Graf’s 22 titles to earn her the title for most major wins by a tennis player (male or female) in the Open Era (which began in 1968). The left-handed Verdasco offers a stern examination for Wawrinka if he truly believes he can pick up his third Grand Slam singles trophy inside the next two weeks.

Djokovic, a U.S. Open finalist five of the last six years, next faces Czech Jiri Vesely, a five-set victor over Indian qualifier Saketh Myneni. And, for an 8-bit Gatorade-sponsored ad buried beneath ESPN’s Snapchat Discover stories (baseball player Carlos Gomez running into a wall and a stack of kids sliding down a hill on a piece of cardboard), Serena Match Pointkilled it on the fashion.

Lingering pain in her right shoulder could make this tough for Williams.

This match is the first match scheduled in the night session on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the victor of this tough first round encounter will face Vania King or Antonia Lottner in the second round. The Swiss is not the greatest of defenders, so it gives him more time to find his feet and wind up his explosive one-handed backhand.

Watch matches and commentary August 29 to September 11, live streaming from the official US Open website and from ESPN.com.

Prediction: Verdasco in five sets.

Williams pulled out of a tournament in Cincinnati last week with a shoulder problem that had also hampered her at the Olympics earlier this month. The No. 2-ranked woman in the world, Angelique Kerber, was just one win away from unseating Williams as No. 1, but lost in that tournament’s final.

Makarova is an extremely risky player for Williams to meet in the first round of a Grand Slam.

Along with her sister Venus, they remained unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals by defeating Yaroslava Shvedova and Timea Babos to capture their first Slam together since Wimbledon in 2012.

The stakes and atmosphere were rather different from her previous two appearances in the tournament’s main arena, which now features a retractable roof that provides extra shade even while open, as it was Monday, with the sky blue and the temperature at 90 degrees. Yet where Williams’s beauty routine has shifted to allow for more freewheeling expression, her fitness approach has been about buckling down and honing in on what she eats in recent years. With that being said, there is still a lot to play for.

Other big names in the U.S. Open men’s singles tournament include Rafael Nadal, who holds 14 career Grand Slam titles, and Andy Murray, now ranked No. 2 in the world and a three-time Grand Slam title victor, having won at Wimbledon in July.