Talented Americans stand in Serena Williams' way

— -- This year's U.S. Open of will be dominated by one storyline as long as it remains relevant:  Serena Williams' drive to complete the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi Graf accomplished the feat in 1988. With that as the backdrop, here are a few other things to look forward to at the tournament:

Best first-round match: Coco Vandeweghe will play Sloane Stephens in an All-American clash that seems like a perfect U.S. Open kickoff. Vandeweghe had a good Wimbledon, while Stephens won the first tournament of her entire career a few weeks ago in Washington D.C. It's a good matchup of Vandeweghe's power against Stephens' guile. The other intriguing opener pits No. 18 seed Andre Petkovic versus Caroline Garcia in a clash of hard hitters. Garcia, a talented 21-year-old from France, has problems with consistency. But at Cincinnati last week, she had back-to-back wins against Sabine Lisicki and No. 4 Petra Kvitova.

Luck of the draw: Sara Errani, seeded No. 16, could make it all the way to the quarterfinals by beating only qualifiers. It's a long shot, as Samantha Stosur will likely be awaiting in the third round, but who knows?

Favorite most ripe for the picking: Maria Sharapova hasn't played since Wimbledon. She's seeded No. 3 and has a tough first round in energetic Russian-born, 21-year old Aussie Daria Gavrilova -- who already has a win against Sharapova. Ana Konjuh, another talented youngster, may await the winner in the second round.

Favorite best positioned to sail: Simona Halep should thank her lucky stars that she snagged that precious No. 2 ranking at the 11th hour. Halep wouldn't play a top 15 seed until a potential showing against No. 14 seed Timea Bacsinszky in the fourth round.

Cinderella candidate: Garbine Muguruza made it to the Wimbledon final, and while she hasn't done much since then, she prefers hard courts. The No. 9 seed is still relatively unknown in the U.S., but she's already played Williams four times at majors and has a French Open win against her.

American with the friendliest path: Curiously, there isn't a single U.S. player who has a conspicuously good draw. The American contenders are clustered up in that first quarter below Serena; the rest of the American fleet may have winnable openers, but harsh prospects not long thereafter.

Fish out of water: Last year, Eugenie Bouchard entered the US Open as the recent Wimbledon runner-up and with a calendar-year "semifinals Grand Slam" at stake. This year, she survived the first round at just one major, the Australian Open. Bouchard plays Alison Riske of the U.S. in the first round.

Most likely to hit the reset button: Caroline Wozniacki, seeded No. 4, hasn't won a match in her past three tournaments, including the big meetings in Toronto and Cincinnati. But this is the time of year when she traditionally pulls it together. Wozniacki was the losing US Open finalist last year, and she's in the third quarter, one that could blow open, this season.

Hard luck of the draw: The silver lining on Serena's draw is that she may not have to meet sister Venus in the quarterfinals. That's because Venus' own draw is a tough one with Monica Puig in the opener and a possible date with Roger's Cup champ and No. 12 seed Belinda Bencic in the fourth round. Serena's journey won't be a cakewalk, either. Her path has fellow countrywomen No. 28 Sloane Stephens and No. 19 Madison Keys awaiting. Also in that quarter: hard-hitting Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Serena's potential second-round opponent), Radwanska and No. 29 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a talented underachiever who's has a hot hand lately.