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.
Coming into the tournament 21st in the WTA rankings, the Czech won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 16 minutes to add to her triumph in St Petersburg earlier this month.
A look at the form and records of the four men's semi-finalists at the US Open.
World number one Novak Djokovic continued his dominance of Kei Nishikori with a 6-3, 7-5 victory in the final of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Sunday.
Already one of the greatest sportsmen of his era, Roger Federer will become the most successful man in Wimbledon history if he can beat Croatian Marin Cilic on Sunday's final and claim an unprecedented eighth men's singles title.
Raducanu stormed into the third round of the Cincinnati Open
2016 is at the halfway stage and the year has already seen some stunning sporting wins, underdogs emerging triumphant on the biggest stages of them all.
Roger Federer was made to work hard by Fernando Verdasco before beating the Spanish veteran 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
PHOTOS from day four of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Saturday
Andy Murray overcame a slow start and a third set service break to beat Taro Daniel 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of Indian Wells on Friday and notch his 700th career win.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will set aside their long-time rivalry when they play for Europe against the rest of the world in the inaugural Laver Cup tournament which starts on Friday.
Rafael Nadal is one victory away from returning to the top of the world rankings after surviving a huge scare to beat Italian Fabio Fognini in the quarter-finals of the China Open on Friday.
Novak Djokovic opened defence of his US Open title with a laboured 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over Poland's Jerzy Janowicz on Monday that brought new concerns about the world number one's fitness.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic is the top seed in the men's draw which includes five-times US Open champion and 17-times Grand Slam winner Roger Federer as seventh seed - his first time the Swiss has been placed outside the top three in a Grand Slam in over ten years.
Croatian Cilic, who lost last year's final to Roger Federer, underlined his credentials for another Grand Slam title bid to add to his U.S. Open triumph in 2014.
Marin Cilic, thrashed by Roger Federer in straight sets in Sunday's Wimbledon final, said he had been suffering from a blister in his foot during the showpiece clash.
As another Grand Slam crown looks set to be snaffled by a man in his thirties this weekend, tennis fans lamenting a dearth of dynamic up-and-comers need not worry, says former world number one Mats Wilander.
Roger Federer celebrated his return to the top of the world rankings with his second title of the season, swatting aside Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tournament in Rotterdam on Sunday.
It was his first tournament win since January and has left the world number four confident of mounting a challenge at Wimbledon, where he has been drawn against Slovakia's Martin Klizan in the first round.
Novak Djokovic will have coach Andre Agassi in his corner for as long as required at Wimbledon as the Serb tries to claim back one of his lost Grand Slam titles.
Twice Shanghai Masters champion Roger Federer was far from his best against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut but did enough to reach the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win on Thursday.
Andy Murray looked every bit the world number one as he gave a Russian teenager Andrey Rublev a lesson in Grand Slam tennis to reach the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 win.
World No 1s Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber have been named top seeds for the first major of the season, Australian Open, which will commences on January 16.
The 33-year-old Swiss, ranked 261 in the world after two knee surgeries, served solidly throughout a one-sided contest on the slick centre court, easing past an opponent who struggled to cope with Wawrinka's power.
Australian Nick Kyrgios caused more on-court controversy in his defeat by unseeded German Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday with a listless performance that could land him in trouble with the ATP.
IMAGES from the matches played at the PNB Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Wednesday
Eugenie Bouchard's mid-season nosedive continued on Tuesday as the Canadian was swept aside 6-3 6-4 by Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic despite having home advantage and the backing of an excited crowd in a first round clash at the Rogers Cup.
India's Davis Cup legend Leander Paes made it clear that he opted to play World Team Tennis during India's last tie against New Zealand in order to give youngsters a chance to prepare for the bigger battles ahead of them.
A summary of Day 2 at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Federer, who skipped the French Open this year to give his body time to recover from his incredible exploits in the first half of the season which he began by winning an 18th major at the Australian Open, said he hoped Murray would not live to regret battling through the pain barrier.
Images from Day 3 of the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros, in Paris, on Tuesday.
Friday's showdown will be the 40th meeting between the duo with Rafael Nadal leading 24-15 and 10-3 in Grand Slams.
Former world number one Serena Williams looked sharp in her return to the hardcourts after a week-long break, soundly defeating Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.
It was a case of down but definitely not out as a Rafael Nadal kept picking himself off a slippery and dusty Centre Court surface to storm into the Wimbledon semi-finals with a pulsating 7-5, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 over Juan Martin del Potro.
Top men's doubles player Jamie Murray has called for an end to the ATP Tour's scoring system in the format and says there is widespread support for it to be changed.
A refreshed Roger Federer's clinical demolition of Jarkko Nieminen in his first match of 2014 suggested he could be a factor in the first major of the year.
World number one Novak Djokovic eased past Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 to lift his fifth Dubai Tennis Championships title on Saturday, extending his unbeaten start to the 2020 season. Djokovic has now won 21 straight matches, including 18 this season, having already lifted the inaugural ATP Cup with Serbia and a record-extending eighth Australian Open title last month.
Not since Croatian Goran Ivanisevic beat Australian Pat Rafter in 2001 has there been a final featuring two players adopting the serve-and-volley style once deemed mandatory.
With the physical demands of modern-day tennis taking its toll the tournament will start without four of the top 11 in the ATP rankings including defending champion Stan Wawrinka who ended his season early with a knee injury.
Belgium's Elise Mertens rallied from a set down to beat top seed Simona Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and clinch her first Premier-level title at the Qatar Open on Saturday.
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