Serena Williams faces tough draw in first US Open

Serena Williams will have her work cut out for her when the Toronto Open begins next week as the 23-time Grand Slam champion begins

her hard court preparations for the upcoming US Open championship.

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If Williams can get past the qualifier in her first-round match, she will face either Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic

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or savvy veteran and former world number one Victoria Azarenka in the second round

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Williams' brutal quarter of the draw released on Friday also includes current world number one Iga Swiateka,

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four-time major champion Naomi Osaka and Canadian teenage sensation Leylah Fernandez.

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Three-time event winner and finalist only in 2019, she will not be seeded this time.

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The American, who turns 41 next month, returned to action after a year out at Wimbledon in June,

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