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US Open Women's Singles Preview: America's Time To Shine At Flushing Meadows?

Since Serena Williams won the last of her six US Open crowns in 2014, only two American women have triumphed in New York City – Sloane Stephens in 2017 and Coco Gauff in 2023

Coco Gauff won the US Open in 2023
Summary
  • Serena Williams and Chris Evert only women to win over 100 matches at US Open

  • Madison Keys and Coco Gauff won the season’s first two Majors

  • Iga Swiatek-Aryna Sabalenka showdown awaited for final

The 58th edition of the US Open women’s singles event starts on Sunday, with the final grand slam of 2025 upon us.

Serena Williams and Chris Evert are the record singles champions at Flushing Meadows, having won the title six times each.

Indeed, that pair are the only women to win over 100 matches at the event, with Williams winning 108 and Evert 101.

Yet, since Williams won the last of her six US Open crowns in 2014, only two American women have triumphed in New York City – Sloane Stephens in 2017 and Coco Gauff in 2023.

There have been three American runners-up in that time – Williams twice (2018 and 2019), Madison Keys (2017) and Jessica Pegula (2024).

But if the season so far is anything to go by, the home fans might have something to cheer over the coming weeks.

Flying the flag

The women’s grand slams have arguably belonged to the Americans this year.

Sure, Iga Swiatek dismantled Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in an emphatic victory in the Wimbledon final last month, but the season’s first two majors were won by women from the United States.

Keys ended her long wait for a major triumph when she pulled off a shock win over world number one and three-peat-chasing Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open in January.

In June, it was Gauff’s turn to get the better of Sabalenka, coming from a set down to win 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 in the final at Roland-Garros, bringing up the 21-year-old’s second grand slam title.

In the process, Gauff became the first player to win a major singles final against the WTA number one after losing the first set since Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2005 (versus Lindsay Davenport) and the first at Roland-Garros since Steffi Graf in 1999 (against Martina Hingis).

Neither Gauff nor Keys, though, have been able to kick on since winning those trophies. The latter has not won another title this year, having preceded her success in Melbourne with a triumphant run in Adelaide.

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Gauff, meanwhile, lost in the first round at her next two tournaments after the French Open, reached the last 16 in Montreal – losing to eventual surprise champion Victoria Mboko – and then the quarters in Cincinnati.

But heading to Flushing Meadows, both Keys – a one-time finalist and the player with the most saved break points (71) in majors in 2025 – and Gauff, one of four American women to win the US Open in the 21st century, will no doubt fancy their chances of a deep run.

Gauff is the first player to claim 17 women's singles main-draw wins at the US Open before turning 22 since Caroline Wozniacki. If she reaches the quarter-finals, she would become the first to claim more than 20 wins at the event before that age since Serena Williams in 2022.

Since her debut at the majors in 2019, only Swiatek (100) and Sabalenka (90) have claimed more grand slam wins than Gauff (71).

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And since her main-draw bow at Flushing Meadows in 2011, only Serena Williams (56) and Victoria Azarenka (38) have claimed more match wins than Keys (33) at the US Open.

Anisimova, on the other hand, will feel she has plenty to prove after that capitulation at the All England Club. She has won a title this season, having triumphed at the WTA 1000 event in Doha in February.

That trio are not the only home hopes, though. Pegula, last year’s runner-up, will be determined to go one better than she did 12 months ago, when she slumped to a straight-sets defeat to Sabalenka.

Gauff, Pegula, Keys and Anisimova are the four American players inside the WTA's top 10, while Emma Navarro is ranked 11th.

One-time grand slam champion Sofia Kenin is also inside the top 30 and is set to be seeded at Flushing Meadows. McCartney Kessler is not far behind and has a title under her belt this season.

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Those last couple of names may be long shots, but it is clear that Americans are flying high in the women's game, so why can't one of them get the job done on home soil?

Should an American reach the US Open final, it will be the first time a woman representing the USA has reached the showpiece match of all the majors in one season since 2002.

That year, Jennifer Capriati made it to the Australian Open final, before Serena and Venus Williams battled it out in the title matches at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.

Speaking of Venus, the 45-year-old is back on Tour, and she recently became the oldest woman to win a WTA-level match since 2004.

A two-time US Open champion, Venus is set to feature in her record-extending 25th main draw at Flushing Meadows and will be one of only two multiple US Open champions at this year's tournament, along with Naomi Osaka. She couldn't, could she?

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Should an American player other than Gauff, Keys or Anisimova reach the final, meanwhile, it will be the first time a different player from the same country has reached the showpiece match of each major in a single season since 1983, when Americans Kathy Jordan, Evert, Andrea Jaeger and Martina Navratilova did so.

In fact, across the history of men’s and women’s grand slams in the Open Era, that has only happened on three occasions (1969, 1979 and 1983).

And should we get a home champion, it will be the first time three of a season's majors have been won by an American woman since Serena Williams triumphed in Melbourne, Paris and London a decade ago.

Is it finally time for a Swiatek-Sabalenka showdown?

Heading into 2025, the main question around the women's slams was whether the world's top two would finally serve up a grand slam final.

There have been 13 meetings between Sabalenka and Swiatek, but none of them have come in the showdown match of a major with a title on the line.

The duo have met in five tour-level finals previously, with Swiatek coming out on top in four of those. They have also gone up against each other in the US Open semi-finals, back in 2022, with the Pole winning en route to lifting the trophy.

Overall, Swiatek holds the edge over Sabalenka with an 8-5 record, but the Belarusian has won their last two encounters, triumphing in the last four in Cincinnati last year and the French Open earlier this season.

Sabalenka's Roland-Garros triumph over Swiatek came amid the latter's frustrating run earlier this season, as she slipped as low as world number eight.

But the six-time major winner has since bounced back, reminding everyone just how good she is with that emphatic victory at Wimbledon, where she dropped just two games across the semis and the final, while not losing a single set throughout her entire run.

Swiatek has followed that up with her maiden Cincinnati Open win – her 11th WTA 1000 title, a tally bettered only by Serena Williams (13) since the format's introduction in 2009.

While Swiatek's frustrations may well be behind her, it has been a case of so close, but so far for Sabalenka this season. She has collected three WTA titles in 2025, yet has lost two grand slam finals, both in three sets.

The 27-year-old is the reigning champion in New York, though, and is aiming to become the first woman to win successive US Open titles since Serena Williams (2013 and 2014).

She could be only the third woman in the Open Era to reach six successive hard-court grand slam finals, too, after Graf and Hingis (seven each).

Despite her frustrations in the very biggest matches this season, Sabalenka has still won the most WTA-level main-draw matches in 2025 (50) and goes into the US Open with the highest win percentage (82.4%, 28-6) of any active player.

Holding a record of 100-20, meanwhile, Swiatek (83.3%) holds the best winning percentage at the majors of any active player (minimum two events played).

Should Sabalenka and Swiatek reach the semis, it will be the fifth time a pair have made it to the last four of every slam in a season in the Open Era, after Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court (1973), Navratilova and Evert (1984 and 1985) and Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin (2003).

Swiatek and Sabalenka have both won 17 grand slam matches in 2025, leading the Tour. It is the first time two women have claimed 17 wins across the first three majors of a season since Serena Williams and Dinara Safina in 2009.

Former champions on the comeback trail?

Emma Raducanu seemed to have the world on her racquet when she beat fellow youngster Leylah Fernandez to win the 2021 US Open.

Yet, four years on from that extraordinary triumph, it remains her only title. In fact, that run at Flushing Meadows remains the only time she has featured in a Tour-level final.

The Brit reached a career-high of number 10 back in July 2022, but has never come close to scaling the same heights. However, 2025 has seen a change in fortunes for the 22-year-old.

Raducanu has won a career-best 24 Tour-level matches this season and has twice pushed Sabalenka hard in recent weeks. She also reached the semi-finals at the Washington Open during this North American hard-court swing.

There have been off-court issues and numerous coaching changes, but back where she burst onto the scene, Raducanu will be out to prove she is still capable of challenging at the top.

She remains the only qualifier in the Open Era to appear in and win a women's or men's grand slam final, while she is the last woman to win the US Open without dropping a set.

During her impressive run in Washington, Raducanu defeated Osaka, but the latter has also found form lately.

She reached her second final of the season – the first time she has achieved that feat in five years – when she faced off against Mboko at the Canadian Open, though she could not make the favourite tag count as she went down to the teenage sensation.

Two of Osaka's four major titles have come at Flushing Meadows, and though she is far from those levels, she is always going to be looked upon fondly in New York. Do not discount a comeback of epic proportions.

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