One more Grand Slam title and Serena Williams will go ahead of Steffi Graf and into her own as the record holder for majors in the Open era at 23. The American begins her quest for that record with a first round match against Ekaterina Makarova.
Serena has not had the best of years so far, winning just two titles in 2016, even if one of them was Wimbledon, which put her on equal footing with Graf at 22 Grand Slam titles. A shoulder injury has quelled her momentum since that Wimbledon victory, with the world number one unable to win a medal at the Rio Olympics as a result.
Doubts remain over Serena's fitness coming into the final Grand Slam of the year, but the American will hope to get her best tennis going in New York against an opponent who is quite capable of beating the top seeds.
"I have not played a lot and practiced a lot," Serena said. "The shoulder is getting a little bit better. I am taking it a day at a time.
"Usually I prefer to play more coming into tournament. But there is nothing you can do about it and I am going to try to make the best of every single opportunity that I have to play."
Makarova is a player of pedigree and confidence, considering the Russian is coming off a gold medal-winning performance at the Rio Olympics, when she won the women's doubles title with Elena Vesnina. Makarova also loves playing on the hard courts, and has reached the semifinals of both the US Open, in 2014, and the Australian Open, in 2015.
Serena, who has a positive 4-1 head-to-head record over the Russian, will be quite aware of the first round challenge in front of her. "I think I try to look at it we all have tough matches," the 34-year-old added. "I know she's a good player. I've just got to do the best I can.
"She's a big fighter. She never really stops. I think one thing I think that's pretty impressive is she gets a lot of balls back. You think she's not super quick, but she is."
What Serena will want is a quick victory, so that the shoulder of hers gets as much time as possible to recover for the next match.
Where to Watch Live
Serena vs Makarova is the first match of the night session, which begins at 7 p.m. local time, 4.30 a.m. IST (next day), on Day 2 of the US Open.
India: TV: Ten 1 and Ten 1 HD. Live Streaming: Tensports live.
US: TV: ESPN2. Live Streaming: Watch ESPN.
Europe: TV: EuroSport.
Canada: TV: TSN. Live Streaming: TSN TV.
Middle East: Bein Sports Arabia.
China: TV: CCTV.
Japan: TV: Wowow TV.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
International: Live Streaming: US Open website.
