"If she gets one or two matches under her belt, she becomes extremely dangerous" - Mark Knowles on Serena Williams' 2022 US Open chances

Bahamian former tennis player Mark Knowles believes that Serena Williams got a favorable draw at the 2022 US Open. She is set to face Montenegro's Danka Kovinic in her opening-round clash on Monday.

Speaking on Tennis Channel, former doubles World No. 1 Knowles stated that the draw could not have been kinder to the 40-year-old.

"She really got a good draw. She could have drawn anybody. She could have drawn the top seed. She could have drawn much tougher opponents," he said.

If Williams gets through her first-round contest, she will most likely face World No. 2 Anett Kontaveit next. Knowles believes that it could be a match the 23-time Slam champion could win, despite Kontaveit's high ranking.

"Most importantly, Anett Kontaveit has not been playing well. She's the No. 2 ranked players in the world, she will have all the pressure if Serena does get to the second round. So, I really like the draw for Serena because as we know, if Serena gets one or two matches under her belt, she becomes extremely dangerous. And then your think about the crowd, right? You think about Pete Sampras' last year, you cannot put a value of how far the crowd can elevate Serena in New York," he said.

Host Rob Simmelkjaer, however, hasn't been convinced by Serena Williams in any of her matches this year.

"The issue with Serena so far in her comeback has not been the ball striking as much as the movement. The question is, will she be able to cover corner to corner to stay in these points," said Simmelkjaer.

Four-time ATP doubles title winner Nick Monroe, who was also on the show, believes that Rennae Stubbs, who recently joined Williams' coaching team, might have some impact on how she performs.

"Yeah I mean with age look that's [the movement] obviously the first thing that goes and she's such a great ball striker. But I think, for her, she's got Rennae Stubbs also on her team, she's gonna look to serve-and-volley a little bit more, maybe try to come to the net a little bit more. Anything to shorten the points," said Monroe, adding, "It's just going to be funto watch."

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John McEnroe expects fans to play a big role in Serena Williams’ US Open performances

Serena Williams at the National Bank Open in Toronto.

John McEnroe expects the partisan home crowd to play a big role in how Serena Williams performs at the US Open, which begins on August 29.

In a media interaction ahead of the season's final Grand Slam, McEnroe stated that Williams should not be written off just yet.

“Could be first round, or she [Serena Williams] could actually make a run. Depends on the crowd. Sometimes when you’re not playing well you sort of feel like the crowd doesn’t get you’re struggling. It depends on how she reacts to that if things aren’t going well or the way she anticipates,” McEnroe said, via New York Post.

Anything could happen. It’s so wide open. At the moment, obviously we know she can hit shots but it’s going to be how well can she play some defense, recover and move. That’s the part that gets tougher as you get older,” he added.