Serme made history last year when she became the first Frenchwoman to lift the coveted trophy, beating world number one Nour El Sherbini of Egypt in the final.

She will open up her bid to repeat the feat against tournament wildcard and home favourite Haley Mendez on Sunday (October 8).

"It would mean a lot to win it for the second year in a row," Serme said.

"But I prefer to focus on each match and on what I have to do on court first because that’s when I play my best."

Serme finished a semi-finalist in her first tournament of the 2017-2018 season at the JP Morgan China Squash Open and she admitted she was keen to get her season off to a better start than last year, when she suffered early exits at both the Al-Ahram International and the Hong Kong Open.

"It was important for me to start in a better way than last year, and it’s already the case," the 28-year-old said.

"It’s positive and I want to keep that feeling for the US Open.

"I will be with my coach and a physio as well, I feel even more comfortable when I have my staff with me."

A men’s tournament will also be held in Philadelphia and sees defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy of Egypt feature in a draw that also stars the likes of world champion and compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad and 2007 winner Nick Matthew of England.

ElShorbagy defeated Matthew in the final of last year’s instalment with his opponent forced to retire in the fifth game.

He will start his title defence tomorrow against world number 17 Cameron Pilley of Australia.

ElShorbagy has won the US Open twice in the last three years having also conquered compatriot Amr Shabana in the 2014 final.

That victory led him to the world number one spot and the Egyptian is hoping his good run at the tournament continues.

"I have great memories because it is the tournament that got me to world number one three years ago," said ElShorbagy, who reigned victorious at last month's Oracle NetSuite Open in San Francisco to secure his first title of the season.

"I’ve won it twice in three years and when I didn’t play very well last season it was one of the tournaments I won, so I have good memories there.

"I always love playing there and love all of the support.

"It’s a tournament I always look forward to."

ElShorbagy, the world number three, is seeded second at the tournament following the withdrawal of world number one and top seed Gregory Gaultier of France.

Gaultier, a three-time US Open champion, has failed to recover from an ankle injury that also ruled him out of the Oracle NetSuite Open.

The injury is a re-occurrence of that which forced him to pull out of last year’s PSA Men’s World Championship at the semi-final stage when he was due to face eventual runner-up Ramy Ashour of Egypt.

Ashour, winner of the 2012 US Open, has also withdrawn from the event due to illness.

Scotsman Alan Clyne and Egypt's Omar Mosaad have subsequently moved into the main draw automatically.

Egypt’s Fares Dessouky takes Ashour's seeded place and will play tournament wildcard and home favourite Christopher Gordon in the first round on Sunday.

The US Open offers players the first chance to gain points for the World Series standings as they bid to qualify for the season-ending PSA World Series Finals.

Only the top eight players in the men’s and women’s standings earn a berth at the lucrative tournament.

Action at Drexel University’s Daskalakis Athletic Center is due to conclude on October 14.