In what she has indicated will be her final U.S. Open and likely her final tournament, Serena Williams was drawn to face the unseeded Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in the opening round.
Kovinic is ranked 80th in the world, but Williams, who turns 41 on Sept. 26, is unseeded herself and ranked 608th at this late stage of her career. She has only a 1-3 record in singles since returning to the tour in June and was soundly beaten, 6-4, 6-0, by Emma Raducanu, last year’s surprise U.S. Open champion, in the opening round of the Western and Southern Open last week.