2017 US Open women's preview.
The 2017 women's singles field is one of the most wide open in years, with six-time champion Serena Williams out on maternity leave and several veteran players and rising young stars with the potential to take home this year's trophy.
Let's take a closer look at past US Open champions, title contenders, rising stars and home-country favorites to see how they could fare at the year's final Grand Slam.
PAST CHAMPIONS
Angelique Kerber – The defending women’s singles champion became the No. 1 player in the world after winning the US Open title last year and held on to the top spot for 34 weeks before falling to Garbiñe Muguruza in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Now ranked No. 6 in the world, the 29-year-old lefty comes into the Open without having won a title in 2017. In fact, she has reached just one final this year, in Monterrey in April, and has yet to beat a Top 20 player this season. Kerber will be competing in New York for the 10th time in 2017. In addition to winning the title in 2016, she also reached the semifinals at the Open in 2011 and the fourth round twice, in 2012 and 2013.
Svetlana Kuznetsova – The 32-year-old has won 17 titles since turning pro in 2000, with arguably her biggest win coming at the 2004 US Open, where she defeated fellow Russian Elena Dementieva for the first of her two Grand Slam singles titles (2009 French Open). Currently ranked No. 8, Kuznetsova also reached the final in 2007 but has not advanced past the fourth round here since 2009. She has had a solid 2017 season, reaching the final at Indian Wells, the semifinals at Madrid, the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the round of 16 at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
Maria Sharapova – Sharapova, 30, will make her first Grand Slam appearance in more than 18 months after receiving a wild card into the main draw of this year’s Open. The 2006 champion returned to competitive play at Stuttgart in April after serving a 15-month drug suspension and has only played in four tournaments since her return, suffering an arm injury in Stanford that forced her to withdraw from US Open Series events in Toronto and Cincinnati. The Russian will be unseeded for just the second time in New York and is currently ranked 147th in the WTA rankings. She’ll have a tough test ahead of her, as she meets No. 2 seed Simona Halep in the first round.
Venus Williams – The 37-year-old American star is having her best season in years, with results that include reaching two major finals, at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, as well as the semifinals in Miami and the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. Venus, seeded ninth, reached her first US Open final 20 years ago in 1997, the first year she played in New York. Eighteen US Opens later, she has won two titles (2000, 2001), reached another final (2002) and advanced to four semifinals (1998, 1999, 2007, 2010).
TITLE CONTENDERS
Simona Halep – Halep has been on the verge of claiming the No. 1 world ranking four times this season – first at the French Open and then at Eastbourne, Wimbledon and Cincinnati – and a strong showing at the US Open could finally put her over the hump. The 25-year-old Romanian has had a solid hard-court season since her run to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and has improved her results with each tournament she's played, reaching the quarterfinals in Washington, D.C., the semifinals in Toronto and the final in Cincinnati.
Garbiñe Muguruza – The 23-year-old from Spain is one of the hottest players on tour coming into the US Open, but the No. 3 seed has not advanced past the second round in New York in her four appearances here. Since winning her second major title at Wimbledon in July, Muguruza has compiled an impressive 12-3 record at US Open Series tournaments, reaching the quarterfinals in both Stanford and Toronto and winning the title last week in Cincinnati. She heads into the Open as one of the clear favorites for the title.
Karolina Pliskova – Pliskova shocked the world at the 2016 US Open, when the then-No. 11-ranked Czech stunned six-time women’s champion and world No. 1 Serena Williams, 6-2, 7-6, to reach her first Grand Slam final. This year, the 25-year-old comes into the tournament as the No. 1-ranked player in the world and the women's top seed. She has won three of her nine singles titles in 2017 and has posted excellent results on hard courts throughout the year, winning the Brisbane and Doha titles, advancing to the Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati semifinals and reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Elina Svitolina – The 22-year-old Ukrainian is currently at a career-high ranking of No. 4 after winning a WTA-best five titles in 2017 (Taipei City, Dubai, Istanbul, Rome and Toronto). Her most recent championship in Toronto was the most impressive, as she beat Venus Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki on her way to the title. The fourth-seeded Svitolina reached her second major quarterfinal at the 2017 French Open – she also reached the round of 8 at Roland Garros in 2015 – and is looking to move past the third round in Flushing Meadows for the first time in her career.
Caroline Wozniacki – The No. 5 seed and two-time US Open finalist (2009, 2014) has been one of the hottest players on tour this year, reaching six WTA finals, propelling the popular Dane into the Top 5 of the rankings for the first time in two years. Wozniacki comes into New York with outstanding hard-court results in 2017, reaching finals in Doha, Dubai and Miami and the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. Most recently, she advanced to the Toronto final and the Cincinnati quarterfinals.
RISING STARS
CiCi Bellis – The 18-year-old rising American first made a name for herself at the Open in 2014, when in her Grand Slam debut she upset world No. 13 Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. The California native has made steady progress ever since, cracking the Top 100 for the first time last year, advancing to two WTA semifinals this summer, in Mallorca and Stanford, and reaching a career-high ranking of No. 35 in mid-August. Bellis will be playing her third US Open main draw this year and will try to improve upon her career-best result from last year, when she qualified into the tournament and reached the third round.
Daria Kasatkina – The 20-year-old Russian, who picked up her first career WTA title in Charleston in April, will be playing her third US Open main draw in 2017. She reached the third round in her New York debut, as a qualifier, in 2015, defeating Daria Gavrilova and Ana Konjuh before falling to Kristina Mladenovic.
Ana Konjuh – No. 92-ranked Konjuh reached her first major quarterfinal at last year's US Open, upsetting No. 20 seed Kiki Bertens in the first round and shocking No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 16 before falling to No. 10 Pliskova. This year, the 19-year-old from Croatia comes into the year's final Grand Slam as the No. 21 seed. Since reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon, her best result has been a quarterfinal finish at Stanford.
Jelena Ostapenko – Ostapenko, 20, has had quite the year in 2017, stunning the tennis world by winning her first WTA title at the French Open. The Latvian star also reached the third round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, and she comes into the Open with a career-high ranking of No. 12 and her highest seeding ever at a Slam (also No. 12).
HOMETOWN HEROES
Lauren Davis – The American received her first-ever seeding at a major at the 2017 Open. Seeded No. 32 in the draw, the 23-year-old Ohio native has posted solid hard-court results this year, winning her first WTA title in Auckland, reaching quarterfinals at Doha, as a qualifier, and Dubai and advancing to the round of 16 at Indian Wells. She will try to advance past the second round of the US Open for the first time in five tries.
Madison Keys – While wrist surgery sidelined the 22-year-old during the early part of the season, Keys appears to be returning to top form this summer after winning the singles title in Stanford and reaching the third round in Cincinnati (where she lost in a third-set tiebreak to eventual champion Garbiñe Muguruza). Keys, seeded No. 15, looks to improve upon her previous best performances in New York – fourth-round appearances the last two years.
Alison Riske – Riske reached a career-high ranking of No. 36 in May, and her top results this year include reaching the final at Shenzhen and the third round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Her best Grand Slam performance came in New York in 2013, when she reached the fourth round. She drew fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe in the opening round.
Sloane Stephens – The 24-year-old, who was ranked as high as No. 11 in 2013, had been sidelined for almost a year with a severe foot injury, returned at Wimbledon and has played just four tournaments since. Since coming back on tour, Stephens reached semifinals at both Toronto and Cincinnati, and her ranking has skyrocketed from No. 336 to No. 84.
CoCo Vandeweghe – California native Vandeweghe, 25, has posted the best Grand Slam results of her career in 2017, reaching her first major semifinal at the Australian Open and advancing to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. The No. 20 seed, who will be playing in her ninth US Open this year, hopes to move past the second round in New York for the first time. Coming into the tournament, she reached the final at Stanford, falling to Madison Keys in the all-American final.
