The main draw of the 2022 US Open begins on August 29 – here are the favorites to win the US Open in Women’s event
Let’s take a look at five women who will enter the tournament as favorites to go the distance:
Ons Jabeur
The Tunisian put on a spectacular show at the recently-concluded Wimbledon Championships. Jabeur dominated her way into the finals with wins over Mirjam Bjorklund, Katarzyna Kawa, Diane Parry, Elise Mertens, Marie Bouzkova, and Tatjana Maria. She won her first four matches without dropping a set. In the final, she suffered an upset loss against the Russian-born Elena Rybakina in a three-set affair. However, the 27-year-old became the first Arab woman – and first African woman to make a Grand Slam final in the Open Era. Her efforts at the most prestigious Grand Slam were lauded by fans and critics.
World No. 2, Jabeur has already won two titles this year. She won the Madrid Open in May and followed it up with a win in the Berlin Open.
Jabeur has not reached beyond the third round at the Flushing Meadows. She lost to Elise Mertens in the third round last year. However, her performance at SW19 this year will surely give her a great deal of confidence and hold her in good stead and it won’t be a surprise if she lifts the title at the end of the tournament.
Emma Raducanu
The Bromley-based Emma Raducanu had not even played a tour match before June last year, but a few months later, she shocked the world and won the US Open title. The talented player became the first qualifier in history – male or female – to win a Grand Slam title. Her dominance at the tournament was such that she did not even drop a set. She defeated Stefanie Vogele, Zhang Shuai, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Shelby Rogers, Belinda Bencic, Maria Sakkari, and Leylah Annie Fernandez en route to winning the title.
Results since then have not been satisfactory and she will be the first one to admit it. However, the youngster is on a learning curve and it is expected that she would have a few lows because sports is a great leveller. Raducanu has not have won a title after last year’s campaign at Flushing Meadows.
She had a disappointing campaign at Wimbledon this year. She was ousted in the second round by Caroline Garcia. Raducanu is currently putting in the hard yards and maybe she will get back to her form where her journey as a pro received a kickstarted.
Maria Sakkari
The Greek tennis pro, Maria Sakkari lost to Raducanu is the semifinals of the US Open last year. The 26-year-old reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before being knocked out by American Jessica Pegula.
Sakkari reached two finals this year. The first one came in the ST. Petersburg Open while the next one came at the Indian Wells Masters event. She had a disappointing run at Roland Garros which ended abruptly in just the second round. Wimledon also wasn’t too fruitful for her as she lost to Tatjana Maria in straight sets in the third round.
She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 3 earlier in the year, making her the highest-ever ranked female Greek player in the Open Era. She can blow hot and cold but if she manages to bring her A-game to the competition then she will be a strong contender to go all the way.
Aryna Sabalenka
The Belarusian had a great 2021 as she reached the semifinal stage for the first time at a Grand Slam at the SW19. She backed it up with another semifinal appearance at the US Open.
The 24-year-old reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before losing to Kaia Kanepi in three sets. She made the finals of the Stuttgart Open defeating the likes of Anett Kontaveit and Paula Badosa in the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively. However, she could not pass the final test against the current world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Sabalenka had the chance to avenge her loss as she met Swiatek once again in the semifinals of the Italian Open. However, the Polish sensation once again won the match convincingly.
At Roland Garros, she crashed out in the third round following a loss to Camila Giorgi. Sabalenka had the chance to win her first title of the season at the Libema Open. However, she was defeated by Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final. Sabalenka did not feature at Wimbledon this year as the officials of the All England Tennis Club banned Russian and Belarusian players. The world No. 6 will be fresh and raring to come the US Open.
Iga Swiatek
Not many would bet against Iga Swiatek. She has been a force to reckon with. The calm head that she shows during crunch situations has impressed one and all. The fact that she is just 21 and producing some brilliant performances is even more astounding.
Swiatek looked all set to win the Australian Open with some fabulous performances. However, she came up against Danielle Collins in the semifinal and the American tennis pro triumphed after playing a near-perfect game. Swiatek moved on and won the Qatar Open. She dropped just one set in the event. She backed it up with a win in the Indian Wells Masters. The Miami Open followed and Swiatek bamboozled her opponents with absolute nonchalance. She won the tournament without dropping a set. She also won the Stuttgart Open and Italian Open. The latter without dropping a set.
The French Open followed and she continued making light work of her opponents. Swiatek notched up her second Grand Slam win, dropping just one set in the entire competition. This was her sixth successive title triumph. Everyone backed her to win Wimbledon but she suffered an upset loss to Alize Cornet in the third round. Expect Swiatek to come roaring back after that defeat. She is certainly the number one favorite going into the tournament.
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