Sloane Stephens will be defending her title at the U.S. Open but all eyes will be on Serena Williams over the coming two weeks as the six-times champion attempts to win her first Grand Slam title since becoming a mother.

The tournament will be the third Grand Slam since Williams returned to competition after giving birth last September, and while she has yet to lift a title in 2018 the former world number one has such a formidable record at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center that she can never be counted out.

Williams was cruising along at the French Open until a pectoral injury forced her to withdraw ahead of her last 16 match, and she finished runner-up at Wimbledon, where she showed she has lost none of her fighting spirit.

However, the 36-year-old has not had a smooth buildup to the U.S. Open with early exits at San Jose and Cincinnati.

Chrissie Evert, an 18-times Grand Slam champion, said in a conference call Williams was fighting to get back to her best and would be in with a chance at the Aug. 27 to Sept. 9 tournament.

“I just feel as I’ve seen her progress this summer and I hear her say she can feel it and taste it and she’s close ... and you know she is working harder,” Evert, now an ESPN tennis analyst, said.

“She needs to put in a little more training, get a little quicker around the court, get a few good matches under her belt. If she gets into the second week of the U.S. Open with those matches under her belt she is going to be a favourite for sure.”

Should Williams prevail she would equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles, although not all of Australian Court’s were claimed during the professional era.

A win in two weeks would also put Williams, who has been seeded 17th, nine spots above her world ranking, in the company of Court, Evonne Goolagong and Kim Clijsters as the only mothers to win Grand Slam titles in the professional era.