Fresh off her first WTA 1000 title at the Cincinnati Masters, 19-year-old Coco Gauff is the odds-on favorite to win this year’s US Open Tennis Championships at Flushing Meadows, New York.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and World Number One currently rank Gauff as the No. 6 player in singles in doubles. She has won five WTA singles titles, having defeated World Number One Iga Swiatek in the semis at Cincinnati and Karoline Muchova in the spine-chilling final at the Southern and Western Open final.
Defending Champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek are headed back to Queens to retain their titles as US Open men’s and women’s singles champion.
Alcaraz, the men’s World Number One, just came off a crushing defeat to tennis legend Novak Djokovic at Cincinnati. The two will likely face off again on Arthur Ashe. With Alcaraz at 20 and Gauff at just 19, this year’s top contenders are among a growing roster of young contenders.
The United States leads all other countries in the U.S. Open field with 25 players who have earned direct entry. Among them is No. 10 Frances Tiafoe who made last year’s semi-finals.
Expect fireworks from the likes of France’s Gael Monfils, seeking to regain his ranking among the world’s top-10 players, and newcomers Christopher Eubanks and Atlanta’s Ben Shelton.
Veteran Venus Williams will make her 24th US Open appearance as a women’s single wild card. Former Chicagoan Taylor Townsend is waiting in the wings as an alternate as the list of accepted player withdrawals grows.
In other US Open news, almost a year to the day of Serena Williams’ retirement from tennis, she, and her husband Alexis Ohanian; have announced the birth of their second daughter, Adira River Ohanian. She joins their first daughter Olympia, 5. The couple tied the knot in 2017. Williams made the announcement in a one-minute video with the caption “Welcome my beautiful angel.” Fittingly, the birth and announcement came on the opening day of US Open 2023 qualifying action at Flushing Meadows August 22.