3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 1, 4, 3, 2.
What numbers come next?
No, it’s not an arithmetic sequence problem on an SAT exam that needs to be solved. It’s a question being posed about Jennifer Brady as she makes her way through the women’s singles draw at the 2020 US Open.
Those are the number of games Brady has lost in each set through her first five matches at the 2020 US Open. In other words, the 25-year-old American has not lost a set at the tournament and has yet to face a set point. She has come up on the short end of the score in just 26 of the 86 games she has played so far and has lost four games in a set only once.
If Brady defeats Naomi Osaka in this evening’s semifinal in straight sets—and then puts on a similarly dominant performance in the championship match—she would become the ninth woman to capture the singles title without losing a set since the tournament added a seventh round in 1976.
READ MORE: Past US Open women's champions
Serena Williams won all seven of her sets during three US Opens (2002, 2008, 2014), and Martina Navratilova swept her way to the title twice (1983, 1987). Chris Evert (1977), Monica Seles (1992), Steffi Graf (1996), Martina Hingis (1997), Lindsay Davenport (1998), Venus Williams (2001) and Justine Henin (2007) also won seven rounds without losing a set. No man in the Open era has done it.
Evert swept her way to the championship two other times, receiving first-round byes in 1976 and 1978 before winning every set in her six matches. Billie Jean King won in straight sets for two straight years (1971-72), and Margaret Smith Court swept all of her sets once (1969) back when the women’s field consisted of 64 players, requiring only six rounds to determine the champion.
Navratilova’s 1983 performance remains the most dominant title run on record. She lost just 19 games over seven sets on her way to winning her first US Open singles title. Moreover, she never lost more than four games in a match, dropping three games in a set only twice. Serena Williams is the only other champion who has not lost more than three games in a set over seven rounds. She did that in 2014, the last of the six times she has won the title.
Brady’s focus, of course, is on winning each match rather than on the margin of her victory. Yet if she continues to play tonight like she has over the first five rounds of the 2020 US Open—and then does the same on Saturday in the women's final—the numbers will add up to one of the greatest performances in the Open era.
Fewest Games Lost by a US Open Women's Champion Who Won All Sets (7 Matches):
19 - Martina Navratilova (1983)
27 - Monica Seles (1992)
27 - Chris Evert (1977)
28 - Martina Hingis (1997)
29 - Serena Williams (2002)
32 - Justine Henin (2007)
32 - Lindsay Davenport (1998)
34 - Serena Williams (2014)
34 - Martina Navratilova (1987)
36 - Venus Williams (2001)
40 - Serena Williams (2008)
46 - Steffi Graf (1996)
Fewest Games Lost by a US Open Women's Champion Who Won All Sets (6 Matches):
12 - Chris Evert (1976*)
22 - Margaret Smith Court (1969)
29 - Billie Jean King (1971)
33 - Chris Evert (1978*)
40 - Billie Jean King (1972)
*Received a first-round bye
