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Six time US Open winner Serena Williams looks to continue her road to winning all four grand slams in a calendar year when she takes on qualifier Kiki Bertens from the Netherlands in the second round.
Join The Roar for live scores of this match from around 5am (AEST) or following the Marin Cilic vs Evgeny Donskoy match on the Arthur Ashe stadium.
Williams of course, has already had an incredible year taking out the Australian Open, French Open and then the biggest of them all at Wimbledon not so long ago. Williams has won three of the four grand slams in a calendar year before, however has never gone the whole way and won all four.
This is a wonderful opportunity for her at the US Open to do just that. Before the US Open, she played nine games across two tournaments on the hard court only losing one game in a semi final before winning in Cincinnati. She has defeated some of the best players on the circuit and looks to be primed and ready for a big tilt at her home grand slam.
Her first round match however, can’t be relied upon to look at form. She was looking strong after taking out the first set 6-0 against Vitalia Diachenko and then was leading the second 2-0 love before Diachenko retired with injury.
Bertens meanwhile was put in a position to qualify for the tournament. Coming off some excellent form in the lead up she managed to go through the qualifying tournament without losing a set.
Her first round match was against the world number 48 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. After dropping the first set 3-6 she managed to bounce back strongly and win the final two sets 6-4, 6-2.
For Bertens this is her fourth US Open and in total 14th grand slam. In New York she has never made it past the second round however last year in the fourth round she did manage to make the fourth round. Her record on the hard court is also substantially lower than her overall career winning record.
The pair have never faced off before, meaning we have no guide to go off past games between the pair. This does leave an element of uncertainty about the game.
The only thing that might even start to play into Bertens’ hands for this match with Williams, is her youth and willing to try and take down the big guns. She is only 23 years old and trying to make a name for herself on the professional tennis circuit and will be keen to put a good display against the world number one.
Williams only problem will be if she gets complacent and doesn’t apply herself correctly.
Prediction: Most will be giving Bertens no chance of winning, let along grabbing a set in this match up and rightfully so. Williams is the number one player for a reason as she chases her fourth grand slam of the year.
Williams in straight sets
Join The Roar for live scores of this second round match at the US Open from around 5am (AEST) and don’t forget to leave a comment if you are following along with the action!
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde