The United States Open begins Monday with restored star power, a year after the women’s draw had just one Grand Slam champion among its top five seeds and three of the top five men in the world rankings missed the event because of injuries.
Now Serena Williams, a year after giving birth, is lurking at the 17th seed while the top four seeds — Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens and Angelique Kerber — are the reigning singles champions for each Grand Slam tournament. In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (who could not play last year) will each be seeking his second Grand Slam title of 2018.