After flaming out at Wimbledon and in two hardcourt tune-ups, the retiring tennis legend has as much a chance of losing in the first round as making it to the Open’s final four.
Serena Williams enters her final U.S. Open at age 40 — ranked 402.
The draw isn’t staged until Thursday, but everyone in tennis knows the unseeded Serena has never been more vulnerable. Her long quest to tie or break Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles has turned into a pipe dream. Serena has been stuck on 23 Grand Slam titles for nearly five years — last copping a major at the 2017 Australian Open. That makes 21 straight Slams in which Williams didn’t hold up the championship trophy — title-less since motherhood.
Williams won her first match in Toronto earlier this month, then promptly lost to Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-4. “Now I’m the superstar and the favorite for U.S. Open,’’ Garcia said with a giggle during the post-match interview. “Two months back, I was nothing. It’s a great tournament and I’m coming in with a lot of confidence.’’Novak Djokovic, who won Wimbledon, is banned from entering the United States because he’s unvaccinated. Roger Federer just hit the practice courts after knee surgery last winter.