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Serena Williams says shoulder ‘a little better’ ahead of US Open

After that, it took a bit of time for me to get centred again. I’ve played a lot of tennis and played a lot of matches.

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“I’m just now starting to feel a little better”, she said.

Nadal had to withdraw during the French Open because of the injury and missed 2½ months. She never really stops.

“I learned not to get involved in those debates and conversations”, Williams said after her straight-sets victory over Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final.

“At the Olympics, I just practiced two days before playing my match”, she said, per David Waldstein of the New York Times.

The 34-year-old world number one equalled Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles with her triumph at Wimbledon in July.

The world number one started 2016 with 14 consecutive wins, before adding the elusive French Open crown to his success at the Australian Open.

As for Djokovic’s troublesome wrist, Murray sees it this way: “I’ve had a long summer as well”. He´s had the wrist and a few other health problems, as well.

At Wimbledon, Djokovic faced a third-round exit at the hands of Sam Querrey. This year he took some time off after Wimbledon and has also taken it easy this week following his exertions the previous fortnight in Rio and Cincinnati.

For Williams, it’s a sore right shoulder that she revealed started bothering her nearly immediately after her Wimbledon victory.

Williams begins her US Open campaign against experienced Ekaterina Makarova of Russian Federation.

Djokovic, who has been bothered by a wrist injury, faces towering Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in his opening match at Flushing Meadows, and is likely to meet 48th-ranked Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic in the second round. At the Rio Olympics, Keys played for the bronze medal. In Federer’s absence, Stan Wawrinka, beaten Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic, as well as 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori and victor Cilic, loom as the other likely challengers.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal may both be heading into the US Open with niggling injuries but Andy Murray will not be lured into a false sense of security.

Last year, Williams came into the Open having won the previous three Grand Slam titles and was considered the overwhelming favorite for the calendar year slam. He’s now ranked 228th and used a protected ranking to get into the U.S. Open.

Third-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza also has a shot at the top.

The announcement Friday means that Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig becomes the 32nd and final seed, as Stephens had been seeded 24th.

“All of a sudden”, she recalled, “I was getting all these messages that I was fat and ugly, and I wasn’t prepared for it”.

The German defeated Williams in the Australian Open final in January. Vinci then lost to Pennetta in the first all-Italian major final, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

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The unsafe Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, the 2009 champion who showed in claiming Olympic silver that he is regaining form after a long recovery from an injured wrist, could be there to oppose the Swiss double slam victor in the quarter-finals. The 2009 U.S. Open champ needed a wild card to get into the tournament.

Del Potro could loom in US Open 1st round for seeds