US Open Day 1 order of play: Serena Williams headlines night session

Everything is fast in New York -- that’s how they came up with the phrase: In a New York minute.

Appropriately, the United States Tennis Association wasted no time in releasing its Day 1 schedule, which features the outgoing Serena Williams versus Danka Kovinic in a 7 p.m. ET Monday match. The announcement came 77 hours before the fact.

And with good reason. This US Open, Williams says, will be the final event for the 23-time Grand Slam champion. Her tennis colleagues, of course, will be watching Arthur Ashe Stadium in primetime right along with the rest of us.

US Open: Scores | Order of play | Draw

“Honestly, like, for me it’s still pretty surreal when I see her,” said Iga Swiatek, the Hologic WTA Tour’s No.1-ranked player. “I still feel like I’m just a kid who's watching. I watch her my whole life.

“I think it’s great that we have somebody like that in our sport who cleared the path and show us that you can do anything. The sky’s the limit.”

This is technically true for all 64 players in action from the bottom half of the draw.

Williams and Kovinic have never met, so it’s difficult to know what to expect. Although she lost two of three matches in Toronto and Cincinnati after an extended absence, Williams has looked good in practice on the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Not only does Day 1 feature perhaps the greatest women’s player ever, but also the World No.2 (who could be Williams’ second-round opponent), a teenage finalist from last year’s US Open, another teenager that was a finalist at Roland Garros, and two of the hottest players in the game coming off titles in Cincinnati and Toronto.

A snapshot at some of Monday’s marquee matches:

Arthur Ashe Stadium: Noon ET start

[12] Coco Gauff (USA) vs. [Q] Leolia Jeanjean (FRA)

Second match

Gauff lost to Halep in Toronto’s quarterfinals before retiring from her first-round match in Cincinnati with a mild ankle sprain. Jeanjean, 27 and from France, is ranked No.149. She reached the third round at Roland Garros this year, stunning No.8 seed Karolina Pliskova along the way.

Coco Gauff recalls the first time she met Serena Williams

Louis Armstrong Stadium: 11 a.m. ET start

[7] Simona Halep (ROU) vs. [Q] Daria Snigur (UKR)

Second match

Halep ran the table in Toronto, vaulting back into the Top 10. The two-time Grand Slam singles champion withdrew after winning a first-round match in Cincinnati with a right thigh injury. Snigur was the 2019 Wimbledon junior champion and is ranked No.125.

[14] Leylah Fernandez (CAN) vs. Oceane Dodin (FRA)

Second night match

Fernandez, who fell to Emma Raducanu in last year’s US Open final, has played only three matches since suffering a foot injury at Roland Garros. These two have never played.

Grandstand: 11 a.m. ET start

[3] Maria Sakkari (GRE) vs. Tatjana Maria (GER)

First match

Remember that terrific run at Wimbledon by Maria -- Tatjana, that is? Sakkari certainly does. The World No.3 was bounced in the third round by the 35-year-old 6-3, 7-5. Maria eventually reached the semifinals, falling there to Ons Jabeur. Sakkari has struggled since, losing three of four matches on North American hard courts.

Bianca Andreescu (CAN) vs. [WC] Harmony Tan (FRA)

Second match

The 2019 US Open champion Andreescu has been dogged by injuries and doubts, but back home in Toronto, she won a couple of matches, beating Alize Cornet and No.11 seed Daria Kasatkina, before losing to 19-year-old Zheng Qinwen. Tan, however, understands the big stage. The 24-year-old from France beat Serena Williams in her comeback match at Wimbledon.

Court 17: 11 a.m. ET start

[17] Caroline Garcia (FRA) vs. [LL] Kamilla Rakhimova

First match

Garcia has won more matches than any woman since the start of June and two weeks ago in Cincinnati, she became the first qualifier to win a WTA 1000 event. Garcia won eight matches in nine days. Rakhimova, 20, is coming off the title at the ITF W60 event in the Bronx.

[2] Anett Kontaveit (EST) vs. Jaqueline Cristian (ROU)

Fourth match

Kontaveit reached the quarterfinals in Prague but lost two of three matches in the recent WTA 1000s. Cristian, a 24-year-old from Romania, hasn’t played since sustaining a serious knee injury in Doha back in February.