Serena Williams: Predicting the Star's Path to the US Open Final

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Serena Williams has had one of the best summers in her career, and at the US Open, she has the ability to cap it off with another Grand Slam title. 

Many experts believe that Serena will coast through the tournament to get to the championship match, and some are even thinking that her sister, Venus, will surprise a few fans by getting to the later rounds as well. 

The focus here is on Serena, however. Even though she may not have a rocky road to go through the US Open, here is the likely path Serena will go through. 

First Round: Coco Vandeweghe

Coco Vandeweghe will likely be banging her head against the racket as she tries to tame Serena.
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Two Americans face off in this first round matchup, and in this first match, there really is no contest.

Coco Vandeweghe is ranked 75th in the world in women's singles and is playing in her fourth U.S. Open as a singles player. 

Her best result came last year when Vandeweghe made it to the second round. Coco will need to pull a rabbit out of her hat to return there this year and beat Serena. 

Serena moves on unblemished.  

Second Round: Mirjana Lucic

Mirjana Lucic will have trouble with Serena even though she is an experienced US Open player.
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Mirjana Lucic has seen the second round in the US Open in each of the last two tournaments at Flushing Meadows, and has seen five altogether. 

However, the 94th-ranked player overall has her hands full with Serena. 

While Lucic does have a win in her career on the hardcourts, Serena's game is just too much to handle. 

Serena wins in straight sets here as well. 

Third Round: Shuai Peng

Shuai Peng is a Top 40 player, but can she play with Serena?
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Shuai Peng is ranked 34th in the world, and like Serena, will have easy matches in the first and second rounds. 

However, this one might be tougher than you think. 

Serena will start out a little slow since she hasn't played to the level of Peng in the first two matches, and Peng will be ready right out of the gate.

This wouldn't be Peng's first time to the third round. Last year, she lost in the quarterfinals.

Peng wins the first set, but Serena has the poise to bring her game back to defeat the Chinese player.  

Fourth Round: Maria Kirilenko

No. 12 Maria Kirilenko should set up to be a good match against Serena.
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Maria Kirilenko is just coming off of a tough match to Petra Kvitova in the New Haven Open, which may give Kirilenko trouble in the US Open. 

These two do have a history together in grand slam matches. Serena is 2-0 against Kirilenko (2004 French Open and 2011 Wimbledon). 

With Kirilenko coming off an upset loss, she'll have to bounce back to challenge Serena, and she will to some extent. 

Serena wins in a tough three-set match. 

Quarterfinals: Caroline Wozniacki

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Can't this just be the final round match? 

It's safe to say these two have a history of facing each other. 

Caroline Wozniacki has been the top-ranked player before, but she comes into this year's US Open with a No. 8 seed. 

Wozniacki has made the semifinals in each of the last two US Opens, but here she'll have to tame the beast that is Serena in order to do so. 

If there is one woman in this field who can tame Serena, Wozniacki may be the one. 

Semifinal Round: Sara Errani

If Sara Errani makes the semis, she would have had a great tournament.
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It would be an accomplishment for Sara Errani to make the semifinal round of the US Open. She would unquestionably be one of the dark horses of the tournament. 

She did just that at Roland Garros where she finished as the runner-up. 

Serena takes care of business here, but for Errani, it's a moral victory. 

Championship Match: Maria Sharapova

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Well, here we would go again. 

The Olympic gold medal match between these two was less than dramatic. It wasn't even a close call. Serena dominated from the opening serve, and Sharapova never got the chance to put up a response. 

Sharapova has to put up a better fight if she doesn't want to lose to Williams in a championship match for the second time in about a month. 

Williams has been so hot this summer, and if she has made it this far in the tournament, no one except that little temper of hers will stop her.