In the words of Eminem, “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.” For Serena Williams, her one shot and opportunity begins Monday at Flushing Meadows. Forget the chance of winning a third straight US Open or tying Steffi Graf with 22 majors, the shot at an elusive Calendar Grand Slam for the world number one awaits for Serena. She’s completed the Serena Slam with her Wimbledon title this year after winning last year’s US Open and this year’s Australian Open and French Open, but the Calendar Slam is something that hasn’t been done in 27 years. We are currently in the midst of witnessing potential history.

Of course, Serena Williams is the favorite after her title in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago and due to her stellar season. Other than the three majors and Cincy, she won in Key Biscayne as well to take home the Miami Open.

The second favorite, according to Vegas, is Victoria Azarenka. A bit of an odd one if you ask this writer. The Belarusian is in the same section as world number two Simona Halep; this writer thinks that Halep should be considered the second favorite. The Romanian made the final of both Cincinnati and Toronto. She had to retire from her match in Canada due an injury and fatigue and lost to Serena in the final in the Queen City. Now, it’s time to take a look at the draw and see which matches are the ones to look for in the opening round.

Serena Williams' quarter

World number one Serena Williams opens up her shot for the Calendar Slam against Vitalia Diatchenko. The Russian shouldn’t really trouble Serena, but the American has had a difficult time making light work of opponents she should beat pretty handily. Halep should be breathing a sigh of relief when seeing that Mirjana Lucic-Baroni is on Serena’s draw and not hers. Lucic-Baroni knocked out the world number two at the US Open last year and this year’s French Open.

Williams could meet 29th-seeded compatriot Sloane Stephens, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, or Coco Vandeweghe in the third round. Mattek-Sands is more of a doubles specialist while Stephens and Vandeweghe both have power off both wings and their serve which could cause some difficulty for Serena, but it shouldn’t be too much that the world number one can’t handle.

19th-seeded Madison Keys or 15th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska potentially await in the round of 16. Keys pushed Serena to a tiebreaker in Australia before falling in straight sets. Radwanska offers a much different variety of play that Stephens, Vandeweghe, and Keys don’t offer and that is finesse. The Pole doesn’t have power, not even in the slightest, what she can offer though is her phenomenal anticipation, her wide array of shots, and the acute angles she can create. Those other three women deal with power so should they meet, it’s something different that Serena will see.

The other top seed in her section is Karolina Pliskova. The eighth-seeded Czech has had a strong season making five finals and winning one of them in her home country of the Czech Republic and was the Emirates US Open Series winner. She’s steadily worked her way up to the top eight with one of her most significant results being a finals showing in Dubai. However, her major results leave more to be desired with not one second week showing yet this year. Her ranking may say top ten, but her results show she’s still a bit of a ways from the cream of the crop on the WTA.

Her two main threats are 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic and 23rd-seeded Venus Williams. These two women are on a crash course to meet in the third round if all holds well. Their mini-section of the draw isn’t too difficult so they should meet. They’re projected to meet Pliskova in the fourth round, and one of them should be the one to get to Serena in the quarterfinals, more likely Bencic, rather than Pliskova.

Other than the four Americans mentioned before, there are a couple more in this section of the draw. Samantha Crawford faces Irina Falconi in her opener, Madison Brengle meets Saisai Zheng, and Anna Tatishvili meets Karolina Pliskova.

The draw may look daunting for Serena, however, this draw is very much manageable for someone of her stature. Belinda Bencic may pose the biggest threat to Serena after she took out the American in Canada, however, this is a Grand Slam, Serena knows what’s at stake and will step up to the plate to finish it either the easy way or the hard way.

Semifinalist: Serena Williams

First round matches to watch for: Coco Vandeweghe - Sloane Stephens, Monica Puig - Venus Williams, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - Magdalena Rybarikova

Maria Sharapova’s quarter

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This quarter was supposed to have world number three Maria Sharapova as the top seed. However, a right leg injury has prevented her from playing so lucky loser Daria Kasatkina will be taking her spot to face Daria Gavrilova in the opener.

With that in mind, this is a massive opening for the two top seeds in Sharapova’s section, 13th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova and 17th-seeded Elina Svitolina. Svitolina has had a solid summer with her semifinal showing in Cincinnati as her major highlight, and Makarova has always been consistent throughout the majors. Makarova meets Teliana Pereira in her opening round while Svitolina meets qualifier Elizaveta Kulichkova in her opener.

The bottom portion of this section is where it gets quite interesting. 10th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro has yet to win a match since the French Open. Eugenie Bouchard has hired a new “mentor” in Jimmy Connors for the tournament and crashed out early in her last tournament in New Haven. Ana Ivanovic is a streaky player as well as Jelena Jankovic. Ivanovic, the highest seed at seven now because of Sharapova’s withdrawal, faces a difficult opponent in Dominika Cibulkova in her opener. If Ivanovic cannot get her serve going, then she’ll have difficulty breaking down the former Australian Open finalist.

In terms of Americans, Lauren Davis has a very winnable opening match against Heather Watson of Great Britain. Same goes for Vania King and Sofia Kenin as they face Roberta Vinci and Mariana Duque-Marino respectively. Alison Riske hopes to cause Genie Bouchard more misery by knocking her out in the opening round while qualifier Jessica Pegula faces Alison Van Uytvanck.

It’s pretty much the spin of the roulette wheel on who could make it out of this section. You could argue reasons for any of the seeded women or even for someone like Cibulkova, Watson, or Zarina Diyas to make a magical run to the semifinals. However, veteran experience is needed to make the a Grand Slam semifinal, and that is where Ekaterina Makarova will shine above the rest.

Semifinalist: Ekaterina Makarova

First round matches to watch for: Kristina Mladenovic - Svetlana Kuznetsova, Oceane Dodin - Jelena Jankovic, Eugenie Bouchard - Alison Riske, Polona Hercog - Zarina Diyas, Dominika Cibulkova - Ana Ivanovic

Caroline Wozniacki’s quarter

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If the quarter which had Sharapova was a spin of the roulette wheel, this is pretty much another gamble on who will make it out of this section. Fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki didn’t win a single match on her hard court summer swing until coming to New Haven where she lost in the semifinal. The same applies for Petra Kvitova except she won the Connecticut Open, but the questions on how much her mononucleosis will affect her will still be there.

Garbine Muguruza has yet to win a match since she made the Wimbledon final, losing to two qualifiers in Toronto and Cincinnati. The Italian duo of Errani and Pennetta have had okay success on hard courts but aren’t any major threats while Sam Stosur just hasn’t been the same since her US Open title a few years ago. That leaves Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Andrea Petkovic as the two other seeded women. Schmiedlova is 21 and Petkovic has never really beaten the top women consistently. All these details pretty much leave us in a pickle on who will get out but someone has to right?

Other than Jamie Loeb, who we’ll go into a little more detail about her first round opponent later, there are three other Americans in this section which are all winnable. Nicole Gibbs faces Aleksandra Krunic, Louisa Chirico faces Johanna Konta, and Christina McHale faces Petra Cetkovska.

Fifth-seeded Czech Kvitova is likely the favorite with how she completely dusted the Dane in the semifinals in New Haven. Kvitova’s raw power is up there with Serena and only Garbine Muguruza in this section can really match that. She opens up her US Open campaign against Laura Siegemund. Wozniacki opens up her US Open campaign against American Jamie Loeb. Despite the diagnosis of mono, don’t expect Kvitova to have that hold her down. She’s the ultimate competitor and will show that she’s up to task of battling herself and her opponent.

Semifinalist: Petra Kvitova

First round matches to watch for: Nicole Gibbs - Aleksandra Krunic, Julia Goerges - Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Caroline Garcia - Andrea Petkovic, Laura Robson - Elena Vesnina, Louisa Chirico - Johanna Konta, Timea Babos - Sam Stosur

Simona Halep’s quarter

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Finally, we’re down to the final top seed with second-seeded Simona Halep. The world number two has made both Premier finals this summer so she’s fully prepared for this ride. With potential matchups in Alize Cornet and Timea Bacsinszky/Sabine Lisicki awaiting, she should find her way through to the quarterfinals without a problem, especially since Lucic-Baroni is not there.

Despite Lucie Safarova just coming off of a final in New Haven, Victoria Azarenka should be the second favorite to come out of the section and the third favorite in the tournament. She’s had a roller coaster ride of a year. She’s had flashes of brilliance when leading Serena Williams in their matches at Wimbledon, the French, and Madrid, but has faltered down the stretch in all three.

The two-time runner-up at Flushing Meadows is back from injury after retiring from her match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Queen City. However, this section is a bit trickier than Halep’s as Safarova, Kerber, and Begu pose more danger than Halep’s potential opponents.

This section isn’t too deep with American players. Varvara Lepchenko faces Lesia Tsurenko, and Shelby Rogers faces her countrywoman Sachia Vickery.

This quarter may not be the most questionable in terms of seeing who gets to the semifinals, but there are still a few contenders in here other than the top three favorites in Halep, Safarova, and Azarenka. The Belarusian has had the best history in Flushing Meadows so that will clearly play a part in her ability to get out of this quarter.

Semifinalist: Victoria Azarenka

First round matches to watch for: Lucie Safarova - Lesia Tsurenko, Varvara Lepchenko - Kirsten Flipkens, Timea Bacsinszky - Barbora Strycova

Semifinals

Serena Williams defeats Ekaterina Makarova

Victoria Azarenka defeats Petra Kvitova

Finals

Serena Williams defeats Victoria Azarenka


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About the author
Noel John Alberto
Filipino-American sports journalist from Toms River, NJ. UMBC Graduate and aspiring physical therapist. Tennis editor and multi-sport coordinator for VAVEL USA. Writer for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Serie A sections of VAVEL UK. Sports aficionado. Host of the On The Line tennis podcast.