By Chris Oddo | Thursday, August 21, 2014

Serena Williams’ bid for a US Open three-peat will begin with a tricky encounter with rising American Taylor Townsend, the draw ceremony revealed on Thursday.

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Williams, who has won two of three events this summer, has never faced the 18-year-old southpaw, but Townsend’s aggressive mindset and the fact that she has nothing to lose and everything to gain just by pushing Williams could make it an interesting battle.

Townsend burst on to the scene by reaching the third round of Roland Garros this year as a wild card, upsetting world No. 21 Alize Cornet in the process.

Further down the road is where things really get tricky for the 17-time Grand Slam champion, as Williams is slated to play Sam Stosur, one of only three players to have ever defeated the world No. 1 in a Grand Slam final, in the round of 16.

Williams could face Ana Ivanovic, the player who knocked her out of this year’s Australian Open in January, in the quarterfinals.

Bidding to become the first player in 36 years to complete a US Open three-peat (Chris Evert won four straight from 1975 to 1978), Williams is a five-time US Open champion.

The other potential quarterfinal matchup in Williams’ half of the draw would feature Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard, if the seeds hold.

In the lower half of the draw, second-seeded Simona Halep is slated to meet Maria Sharapova and fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska would meet Angelique Kerber if the seeds hold.

There are five former US Open champions competing in this year’s field: Svetlana Kuznetsova (2004), Maria Sharapova (2006), Sam Stosur (2011), Venus Williams (2000, 2001) and Serena Williams (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013).

Main draw play begins on Monday August 25.

Click here to view the complete draw