Serena Williams Remains Favorite as Final Weekend Begins

Despite her struggles in the three previous Grand Slams of 2014, Serena Williams remains the Queen of Queens and the U.S. Open is hers to lose.

The No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion will take a 19-match winning streak in Flushing Meadows into Friday’s semifinal meeting with No. 17 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.

Fan favorite Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, the highest remaining seed after Williams at No. 10, meets unseeded Peng Shuai of China in the other semifinal. Wozniacki and Peng begin at 1:45 p.m. with Williams-Makarova to follow.

“For me it’s just about every day is a new day,” Williams said after dispatching Flavia Pennetta, 6-3, 6-2, Wednesday night in the quarterfinals. “You never know. Especially for me this year, you never know what can happen. I take everything very seriously as it comes.”

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Written by Adam Zagoria

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Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.