‘The Gods Were Smiling At Serena With This Draw’

Serena Williams appears to have a friendly draw in what will be her final U.S. Open — and perhaps her final tournament ever.

Williams, who turns 41 next month and recently announced her impending retirement, will open the tournament against Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, currently ranked No. 80 in the world. Serena, the winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, is ranked No. 608 and is 1-3 in 2022 after missing nearly a year due to a hamstring injury.

Kovinic, 27, reached the third round of both the Australian Open and French Open, but she has lost five straight matches and hasn’t won since Roland Garros.

The date and time of the match has not yet been revealed. Should Williams advance, she could face world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the second round. Kontaveit is 24-13 this year.

“The Gods were looking down and smiling at Serena for this draw,” ESPN analyst and tennis legend Chrissie Evert said on air. “I like this draw for Serena to play Kovinic. Even though Kontaveit’s 2 on the computer, she hasn’t been playing like a No. 2 player I think Serena actually will be happy to see that she’s playing in it.”

Said ESPN’s Alexandra Stevenson of Kontaveit: “Her game style, she doesn’t move that well, she’s not the best defender. Serena can get in and really push her back and take it to her right away.”

Williams shares the same quarter as Leylah Fernandez, last year’s runner-up who has been dealing with a stress fracture in her foot. Williams would have to potentially beat six seeded players to win the tournament, including Fernandez in the fourth round, No. 5 Ons Jabeur in the quarters, No. 3 Maria Sakkari in the semis and No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the final.

Williams hasn’t won a major since the 2017 Australian Open, when she was pregnant with her daughter Olympia and beat her older sister Venus in the final.

Still, Evert and ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe both believe Williams could potentially use the inspiration of the crowd in what may be her final tournament to make a run.

“She can hopefully make a deep run but when you see this draw here, she could possibly get through,” McEnroe said.

Added Evert, “She can make the second week for sure.”

She added: “The longer we have Serena in this tournament, the better for all of us and I see her coming out in this.”

There is no clear cut favorite to win the tournament.

According to several betting sites, the top favorites to win the Open on the women’s side are world No. 1 Swiatek, the French Open champion, three-time major champion Simona Halep, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, four-time major winner Naomi Osaka, American sensation Coco Gauff and Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who just won the event in Cincinnati.

Gauff and fellow American Madison Keys share the same quarter as Halep and No. 3 Sakkari.

Osaka is slated to face American Danielle Collins, the Australian Open runner-up, in a first-round popcorn match.

The projected quarterfinals on the women’s side look like this: