Serena shoulders burden of history

Serena Williams once again arrives at Flushing Meadows poised to rewrite the record books - if her own troublesome right shoulder and increasingly emboldened rivals allow it.

The 34-year-old US superstar matched Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles with her triumph at Wimbledon in July.

With a seventh US Open victory she can break Graf's record and continue her march toward Australian Margaret Court's all-time mark of 24 Grand Slam titles.