Serena Williams shoulders burden of history at Flushing Meadows

Serena Williams once again arrives at Flushing Meadows poised to rewrite the tennis record books — if her own troublesome right shoulder and increasingly emboldened rivals allow.

The 34-year-old US superstar matched Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles with her triumph at Wimbledon in July.

With a seventh US Open triumph she can break Graf’s record, and continue her march toward Australian Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 Grand Slam titles.

She could also break Graf’s record of 186 consecutive weeks atop the world rankings, and surpass Chris Evert for most US Open singles titles won in the Open Era.

But after seeing a frustrating year go by between her 21st Grand Slam win and no. 22, Williams said she’d learned to let history take care of itself.

“At this point, I’m taking it a day at a time,” Williams said. “I just am more relaxed, for sure.”

Williams faces a tricky opening encounter against experienced Russian Ekaterina Makarova.

She could find fifth-seeded Romanian Simona Halep waiting in the quarters and elder sister Venusin the semis.

Kerber closing in Germany’s Kerber, who defeated Williams in the Australian Open final in January, is just one of the players with a chance to seize the number one ranking if Williams falters.

Kerber, 28, also boasts a title at Stuttgart, an Olympic silver medal and finals appearances at Brisbane in January and this month in Cincinnati — where she missed her first chance to supplant Williams atop the rankings.

Third-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza also has a shot at the top, although the 22-year-old who stunned Williams in the French Open final will need her best US Open ever to do so.

Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland also has an outside chance at the world number one ranking if she can claim her first Grand Slam title.