Serena, a six-times champion in New York who is seeded 17th, will start her campaign against Polish world number 60 Magda Linette and could face Venus in the third round before a possible fourth-round showdown with Romanian top seed Halep.
According to the trophy, though, there was also an Australian champion in 1976.
Serena Williams was forced to dig deep to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 US Open quarter-final victory over unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, keeping alive her latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.
Star Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri suffered a major setback in the Australian Open after a straight-set defeat at the hands of the sixth-seed Tomas Berdych in the opening round of the tournament on Monday.
American Serena Williams was third time lucky as she finally equalled Steffi Graf's long-standing record of 22 Grand Slam wins after defeating Germany's Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final on Saturday.
Navratilova, who is openly gay, said it was vital for sports stars to speak out.
23-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams said she is a Roger Federer 'superfan'.
Ashleigh Barty lifted the season-ending WTA Finals trophy and led Australia to their first Fed Cup final since 1993, while Nadal won his 4th ITF Award for winning two Slams this season.
Images from Day 2 of the 2024 Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday.
Aussie Millman loves the support that he gets in Melbourne.
Images from Day 6 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Serena Williams was the highest paid female athlete for a third consecutive year in 2018, according to an annual list published by Forbes on Tuesday that was dominated by tennis players.
Murray has struggled to regain form since undergoing hip surgery last January, and was quickly dismantled by the six-time Australian Open champion at Margaret Court Arena before the players called time on their match after less than an hour.
Summary of all sports events and persons that made news on Thursday.
Serena Williams has not won a set in any of the four Grand Slam finals she has reached since returning from maternity leave in September 2017.
A look at the 10 landmark matches from the 20-times Grand Slam champion's career.
Simona Halep became the first Romanian in 40 years to lift the French Open trophy at Roland Garros on Saturday.
Shapovalov will meet Rafael Nadal for a place in the semi-finals.
Serena has remained one title behind Margaret Court's all-time record since bagging her 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy
Homeland favorite Ashleigh Barty and Serbia's Novak Djokovic are the top seeds for the upcoming Australian Open.
Serena Williams plans to play fewer tournaments in the future to aid her quest to win more Grand Slam titles, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Images from Day 7 of the 2023 Australian Open, at Melbourne Park, on Sunday.
So while Halep went about dominating Serena, here are some famous people who got a ringside view of the action
The following is a timeline charting her rise to the top of the women's game:
American Frances Tiafoe celebrated his 21st birthday by stunning Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 7-5 in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Sunday.
List of French Open women's singles champions
Ekaterina Makarova, who upset an injured Serena Williams in the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open, completed a Melbourne Park sweep of the Williams sisters by eliminating Venus 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round on Monday.
Following Iga Swiatek's victory over Coco Gauff in the final, here's a list of French Open women's singles champions:
Garbine Muguruza claimed a 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Johanna Konta
Images from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
Even as he was being sworn in inside the Supreme Court, scores of people protested across the street at the Capitol.
"(Novak) has said that he views this as a private matter for him. We would love to see Novak here, he knows that he'll have to be vaccinated to play here."
Serena confirmed her entry to the tournament she won for a seventh time on her last appearance in 2017.
Romania's Italian Open winner Simona Halep, Spain's Garbine Muguruza and US Open semi-final foe Victoria Azarenka of Belarus present a major challenge for Serena Williams at the upcoming French Open.
Serena Williams has been stuck on 23 slams since triumphing at the Australian Open in January 2017.
She remained philosophical in defeat, however, saying that her expectations coming into the tournament had not been high.
Images from all the action on Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday
Here are eight women to watch during the US Open which starts on Monday.
Williams, who has been outspoken in pushing for gender and racial equality, was asked in her post-match media conference whether she should focus more on her tennis than on social issues and being a celebrity.
The 29-year-old Serbian tried his hand at different sports including cricket, football, wheelchair tennis and basketball during 'A Night with Novak' at the Margaret Court Arena on Wednesday night.
