The year’s final major tournament is nearly upon us, and given how events on the women’s side of tennis has unfolded this year, the field for this year’s US Open is as wide open as it can be.
Perennial heavyweights Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka will be absent, with the former nearing the final stages of her pregnancy and the latter currently caught up in legal issues involving the custody of her son.
However, the tournament will not be without its star power, with Maria Sharapova granted a wildcard into what will be her first major tournament since last year’s Australian Open.
The Russian has barely played since returning from her 15-month doping suspension, a calf injury suffered in Rome seeing her sit out both the French Open and Wimbledon, while she could only manage one match in Stanford.
It will be interesting to see how she fares in what will be her biggest tournament since her return to the game, with a one in four chance that she might draw a seeded player in her opening match.
Defending champion Angelique Kerber has struggled for form this year, while it will remain to be seen how Karolina Pliskova fares in her first Grand Slam tournament as the world number one.
Let’s now have a look at the three main contenders for the US Open title, as well as outline some other potential dark horses.
Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
Current world ranking: 1
Titles won this season to date: Brisbane, Doha
US Open history
Best result: Runner-up (2016)
Last year’s result: Runner-up
Grand Slam results in 2017 to date
Australian Open: Quarter-finals
French Open: Semi-finals
Wimbledon: Second round
All eyes will be on world number one Karolina Pliskova to see not only how she adapts to the pressure of being the top seed of a major tournament for the first time, but also whether she can go one better at Flushing Meadows.
It was here last year where she reached her first major final, losing to Angelique Kerber after defeating both Venus and Serena Williams, in the fourth round and semi-finals, respectively.
Her run to the final came following years of steady progress after she won the girls’ title at the Australian Open in 2010.
The Czech started this year on fire, claiming titles in Brisbane and Doha on either side of reaching her first quarter-final at Melbourne Park where she lost to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in three sets.
She then reached the semi-finals at the French Open, but was denied the chance to claim the world number one ranking when she lost to Simona Halep in three sets.
While she had the chance to bounce back at Wimbledon, she fell in the second round for the fifth straight year, but claimed the world number one ranking after Simona Halep fell in the quarter-final stage.
The 25-year-old fared moderately in Toronto and Cincinnati, reaching the quarter and semi-finals respectively where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki and Garbine Muguruza.
The latter defeat left her at risk of losing the world number one ranking but as it turned out, Muguruza did the Czech a favour by going on to thrash Simona Halep in the final for the loss of just one game.
Now it remains to be seen how Karolina Pliskova handles the pressure of being the world number one at a major tournament – if she fails to reach the final, she will fall off her perch no matter else what happens.
However, I think she will adapt well and I think she can again reach the final.
Prediction: Finalist
Simona Halep (ROU)
Current world ranking: 2
Titles won this season to date: Madrid
US Open history
Best result: Semi-finals (2015)
Last year’s result: Quarter-finals
Grand Slam results in 2017 to date
Australian Open: First round
French Open: Runner-up
Wimbledon: Quarter-finals
One will have to wonder whether Simona Halep can make the most of her latest opportunity to finally land her maiden major title after she committed one of the most spectacular chokes in recent tennis history earlier this year.
The 25-year-old started as the red-hot favourite when she opposed Jelena Ostapenko in the final of the French Open in June, and all was going swimmingly when she led by a set and 3-0 in the second.
That was until her 20-year-old opponent launched a stunning comeback to take the second set before Halep appeared to restore order by going up a break in the decider.
Ultimately, the Romanian went down in three sets, and it marked the first of four times (so far) in which she has been denied the coveted world number one ranking.
As if losing the final at Roland Garros wasn’t enough, she would be in for more disappointment during the grass court swing.
She failed to overtake then-top ranked Angelique Kerber after losing in the quarter-finals at Eastbourne, and was once again dudded when she lost to Johanna Konta in the final eight stage at Wimbledon.
Worse was to come – after losing to Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Halep managed to reach the final in Cincinnati, but was thrashed by Garbine Muguruza, winning just one game in under an hour.
This has left her just five points short of Karolina Pliskova in the rankings.
However, the Czech will be under pressure to retain her number one ranking because if she loses before the final, any of Halep, Elina Svitolina, Garbine Muguruza, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Johanna Konta or Svetlana Kuznetsova could ascend to the top by sunrise on September 11.
Even if she loses in the first round, Halep will be ranked higher than Pliskova (assuming she doesn’t reach the final) at the end of the tournament anyway, so the stakes will be high.
The bigger question will be whether she can finally capture that elusive Grand Slam title, and the world number one ranking.
Prediction: Semi-finals
Simona Halep. (Carine06 / Flickr)
Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
Current world ranking: 3
Titles won this season to date: Wimbledon, Cincinnati
US Open history
Best result: Second round twice (2015, 2016)
Last year’s result: Second round
Grand Slam results in 2017 to date
Australian Open: Quarter-finals
French Open: Fourth round
Wimbledon: Won
After winning the French Open last year, third seed Garbine Muguruza appeared to have the world at her feet.
But in the thirteen months since, the Spaniard struggled to adapt to the pressure of being a major champion, and her confidence and ranking subsequently suffered.
While she managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time earlier this year, a fourth round loss to Kristina Mladenovic at Roland Garros saw her tumble out of the world’s top ten for the first time since 2015.
However, the 23-year-old was able to turn her fortunes around at Wimbledon, claiming her second Grand Slam title by defeating Venus Williams in the final and returning to the top ten.
Last week she blitzed Simona Halep in the final to claim her second title for the year in Cincinnati, the result marking the first time she has won multiple titles in one season, and bringing her career title tally to five ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament.
Her performance in Ohio has seen her installed as one of the favourites for the US Open, and of the eight players in contention for the world number one ranking, the equation is easiest for the Spaniard.
Because she lost in the second round last year, the 23-year-old can earn fresh rankings points at will if she advances to the third round for the first time. By reaching the fourth round, she will remain in contention for the world number one ranking so as long as her rivals don’t outperform her.
With very little points to defend from last year, and perhaps for the rest of the season, Muguruza can use the US Open as a launching pad for her assault on the year-end world number one ranking.
On the basis of her devastating form in Cincinnati, I think she can do very well at Flushing Meadows.
Prediction: Champion
Other players to watch out for
One player who has the potential to do very well is fourth seed Elina Svitolina.
The Ukrainian’s surge up the rankings has continued, claiming five titles for the year to date, the biggest of which were in Rome and Toronto, and reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open for the second time.
However, she still has some work to do at the other majors, none more so than the US Open where she has yet to progress past the third round.
On the back of reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon, Johanna Konta will look to continue her season of consistency at the tournament where she got her first real break, reaching the fourth round in 2015 as a qualifier and knocking out recent Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza en route.
Interest will also surround defending champion Angelique Kerber, who risks a significant drop in the rankings with an early defeat, as well as former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams.
(Yann Caradec / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sharapova will be contesting her first major tournament since last year’s Australian Open after being granted a wildcard, and it will be interesting to see how she fares given her recent lack of match play owing to a calf injury which sidelined her from the French Open and Wimbledon.
In the absence of younger sister Serena, who is due to give birth any day now, Venus will be left to uphold the family name at Flushing Meadows, and having won here twice in the past will look to rediscover that glory once again.
French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko will also look to consolidate on her strong Grand Slam form, having reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon after pulling off a Leicester City at Roland Garros in June.
And former world number one Caroline Wozniacki will also have a load of rankings points to defend from last year, when she reached the semi-finals after entering the tournament ranked a lowly 74th due to injury.
The year’s final Grand Slam tournament gets underway on Tuesday morning (AEST).
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