WHILE Laura Robson seeks to take another significant step in an already blossoming career, one older hand is hoping for a slice of history.

British No.1 Robson will aim to recreate the first phases of her run here last year in which she dispatched former champions Kim Clijsters and Li Na - before Sam Stosur proved one nut too hard to crack.

Serena Williams, however, will become the oldest US Open women's champion if she retains the title she won 12 months ago.

Should the American 16-time grand slam champion add to her tally, she will win the accolade held by Australian Margaret Court, who won the 1973 crown 55 days after her 31st birthday.

"That would be great," said Williams, who will turn 32 next month. "That's not one thing I focus on and one thing I think about. I just think about how there are so many people in the competition and so many things I would like to do.

"I have been able to keep up with the times. I'm actually serving harder than I ever have in my career. The racquets are stronger and I'm fitter.

"I feel so good, so healthy, so vivacious every time I step on the court. I feel great. I feel completely recharged.

"To play more matches now, later in my career than sooner, it's interesting how good I feel."

The No.2 seed, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, got the better of Williams last week in Cincinnati and remains the biggest threat to the American's chances of successive US Open victories.

A repeat of their final last year - in which Williams triumphed 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 - is on the cards, should the seedings prove correct.

"It gives you great confidence," Azarenka said of her three-set win in Cincinnati. "But I always think the new week is the new story. You can always take the best out of what happened last week, so I will definitely take that into consideration.

"But the new week - US Open, Serena, No.1 player in the world, defending champion - we all start kind of from zero here."

Robson's stock, meanwhile, has never been so high. Seeded for the first time at a grand slam - and in doing so becoming the first British woman since 1987 to earn a seeding at a major - the 19-year-old is fast becoming one of the leading younger lights on the WTA tour.

That fact has been illustrated by management group IMG, which has recently lost the services of Roger Federer but still look after the likes of Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova, taking her on.

Robson's run to the fourth round here last year has ensured Manhattan remembers the top-ranked British woman.

Robson, who has recovered sufficiently from the wrist injury which has meant she has played just twice since reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon, plays Spain's world No.53, Lourdes Dominguez Lino, in round one, knows she has been making waves - because of the reaction on the streets here.

"I've had a couple of random looks just, like, walking around Manhattan. They must be British tourists, I would say. Yeah, they don't really say hi, they just stare, which is a bit awkward," smiled Robson.

She added: "I had a couple of big wins but I thought it really gave me a lot of confidence going into other matches against top players thinking 'I can beat them', and I felt like I was playing really well for the rest of the year.

"I've always been someone who steadily improves, and I'm still going that way hopefully."