US Open: Pam Shriver expects Serena Williams to win

Williams has owned the number one spot since February 18, 2013 and will extend her streak to 186 consecutive weeks by the end of the U.S. Open fortnight, tying the WTA record held by Steffi Graf.

Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams face challenging early tests at the U.S. Open following Friday’s draws for the year’s last grand slam starting on Monday.

She hit 12 aces and reached 121 miles per hour on her powerful serve during a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ekaterina Makarova, a potentially tricky first-round opponent at Flushing Meadows. “I think Serena will respond really well to the support”. I didn’t think she’d win the Australian because of having a four-month lay-off going into that.

A record seventh title on the hardcourts of Flushing Meadows, where she first triumphed in 1999, would see Williams break the Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles she now shares with German Steffi Graf and close in on Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 major titles. Slowed by a bothersome right shoulder, she lost in the third round of singles and first round of doubles at this month’s Olympics – she was the 2012 gold medalist in both – and then pulled out of a hardcourt tuneup event in Ohio.

Djokovic launches his US Open title bid with a match against towering Jerzy Janowicz of Poland and the 2011 and 2015 champion feels capable of a big run at Flushing Meadows.

This has been a good year, not a banner year, for Serena Williams.

“It gave me so much but it took a lot out of me as well”. “She goes deep in majors”.

“She wanted to play the Olympics in Rio, it was very important for her but the shoulder was killing her”.

Elsewhere, Eugenie Bouchard crashed out in the first round but said she has not been distracted by her ongoing lawsuit against the tournament. “I knew I had to really come out today”.

Sixth-seeded Venus had provided the opening act for sister Serena when she outlasted Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova 6-2 5-7 6-4 before turning over the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to her top-seeded sibling. I wanted to stay fit, so.

The older McEnroe added: ” If things are going on in your personal life, for me it made it very hard to get that focus and intensity and will and all the other things you need to bring to the table – preparation, too – in order to play your best on the court.

The final Grand Slam of 2016, the US Open features stiff competition in Angelique Kerber, Garbine Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska, in addition to the slew of other competitors who are all hoping for upsets. He just doesn’t hit the ball as clean, as early. Then she got bounced in the semifinals by Roberta Vinci, a loss that is still inexplicable.

Later, Williams acknowledged what was at stake had been a burden.

Last major of the year, today-Sept. “The bar was higher maybe than anything I’ve ever seen as far as his consistency”, McEnroe said as quoted by DailyMail.