World No. 1 Serena Williams is set to defend her U.S. Open Title against up and coming American teen sensation Taylor Townsend in Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Williams won her 17th Grand Slam title last year at the Open, but she has not won any major tournament this year. In fact, she didn't even reach the quarterfinals.

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Williams did however win two Masters event--the Bank of the West Classics in Stanford and the recent Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The 18-year-old Townsend is a leftie who debuted at the recent French Open as a wild card. Ranking 205th in the world, she was able to reach the tournament's third round, upsetting 20th-seed Alize Cornet, who upset Williams in the last edition of Wimbledon in the third round.

Williams hopes to achieve her 18th major to tie tennis legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert in the all-time list of most Grand Slam titles.

The women's player who has won the most major titles is Margaret Court with 24, followed by Stefi Graf with 22.

She also seeks to become the second female tennis player to win the US Open in three straight years.

In last year's finals, Williams won against Victoria Azarenka who is currently the 16th seed and will be possibly facing recent Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the fourth round.

Azarenka did not compete in Cincinnati due to a right knee injury.

Australian Open Champion China's Li Na is not competing in the tournament also due to a knee injury and French Open winner Maria Sharapova will play fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko in the main event at 7pm on Monday at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The second-seeded Romanian Simona Halep could face another French Open finals rematch against Sharapova in the quarter-finals while Williams may face a Cincinnati Masters rematch against Ana Ivanovic.

If Williams continues her winning run after the Western and Southern Open win, she may face a possible Eugenie Bouchard or Kvitova in the semis and maybe a Sharapova or Agnieszka Radwanska in the finals.

Tagsserena williams, li na