NEW YORK (AP) — Whether or not she ends up holding the trophy at the end, Serena Williams has no competition at the U.S. Open this year.

She is the top personality, the woman to watch in a sport that has struggled of late to find, and hold onto, a compelling star.

Part of it is because of the basic numbers — Williams has 13 Grand Slam titles compared to the grand total of zero from
the other seven women left in the field.

Part of it is the image — a mercurial and physically intimidating presence on the court, who can charm people when she’s off of it.

“There are certain people who are pretty special,” said Tracy Austin, who was one of those people back in her day, “and sometimes we don’t appreciate it ‘til they’re gone.”

Williams’ run at the title is scheduled to resume Wednesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where she’ll play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a 20-year-old Russian matching her deepest run in a major.

Play on Tuesday was washed out when a slow-moving rainstorm moved over the Big\ Apple and forced tournament officials to push several matches involving top players — Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and Caroline Wozniacki — onto outside courts when play resumes.

Williams, though, will be on center stage, as usual, and figures to be for the rest of the week.