Cincinnati Masters champions Serena Williams and Roger Federer will highlight day two of the U.S. Open at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.

Both Williams and Federer are 17-time Grand Slam champions, were born in 1981, have won the U.S. Open title five times and are also favored to win their 18^th major title in New York.

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Both players have not won a majors title this year but both are coming from a win at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The similarity stops there, however, since Federer won the tournament last in 2008 while Williams is aiming for a threepeat performance.

Williams is set to play up and coming American teen sensation Taylor Townsend who debuted at the recent French Open as a Wild Card, ranking 205^th in the world, and was able to reach the third round, upsetting 20^th seed Alize Cornet who by coincidence upset Williams in the last edition of Wimbledon in the third round.

Federer will play Australian Marinko Matosevic in his opening game. They last met at the Brisbane International early this year in the quarter-finals where Federer clobbered him in two sets 6-1 6-1.

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

Federer will break his own record of having the most Grand Slam titles at 17. He is followed by Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal, both with 14.

Another similarity that has a major significance in the tournament is that No. 2 seeds Li Na of China and Spaniard Rafael Nadal are both not participating in the event due to injuries.

It may seem that Williams and Federer are both destined to win their respective18^th major title in the last Grand Slam event of the year. But there are underdogs lurking in the dark that may thwart their personal goals.

Tagsserena williams, Roger Federer, li na, rafael nadal, martina navratilova, Chris Evert, Pete Sampras