The US Open is the toughest two weeks in tennis, testing its champions year in and year out with a gauntlet of seven matches, on Flushing Meadows’ cement courts, all played before a boisterous New York crowd.
A victory here is as rewarding as it is well-earned. And annually, the singles winners are the ones who play the long game, conserving energy where they can and navigating the many ups and downs of Grand Slam tennis played on the grandest showcase in the sport—Arthur Ashe Stadium—at the very end of the major season.
On Thursday night, four women new to this stage will look to take their next step into the unknown: a US Open final. In fact, combined they boast just two career Grand Slam singles semifinals appearances, both earlier this year, and none of the four had ever previously made it past the Round of 16 at the Open.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at their road to the semis, what it took to get here and their title outlook as we embark on crowning a first-time Grand Slam women’s singles champion at the US Open for the fifth time* in the last seven years:
Previous best US Open finish: R4 (2018)
Previous best Grand Slam showing: SF (2021 Wimbledon)
Sets win-loss at 2021 US Open: 10-1
Games win-loss at 2021 US Open: 66-31
Time spent on court through QFs: 7 hours, 29 minutes
Despite having advanced past the fourth round at a major just once in her singles career, earlier this summer at Wimbledon, the big-hitting Sabalenka is now the title favorite. That can oftentimes prove a burden, but the world No. 2 comes into the semifinals in fine form and good shape, having dropped just one set and spending less time on court than all the semifinalists but Emma Raducanu. Sabalenka, 23, also enjoyed a day off between the quarterfinals and semifinals, which means she should be fresh and ready to take on giant killer Leylah Fernandez, who has already ousted two Top 5 seeds this fortnight (No. 3 Naomi Osaka and No. 5 Elina Svitolina).
Previous best US Open finish: R4 (2020)
Previous best Grand Slam showing: SF (2021 French Open)
Sets win-loss at 2021 US Open: 10-1
Games win-loss at 2021 US Open: 67-44
Time spent on court through QFs: 9 hours, 0 minutes
Sakkari has had a relatively easy run to her second Grand Slam semifinal of the year, save for an epic fourth-round match against 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu that required two tiebreaks and extended for a pulse-pounding three hours and 30 minutes. The Greek star rebounded nicely in the quarterfinals, however, eliminating No. 4 seed Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4, in a tidy, one hour and 22 minutes. The 26-year-old Sakkari, the elder stateswomen of this very young quartet, is one of the best-conditioned players on tour, so there is no reason to think fitness will be a factor Thursday night, but her opponent in the semifinals, Raducanu, does figure to be the fresher player should this one go the distance.
Previous best US Open finish: R2 (2020)
Previous best Grand Slam showing: R3 (2021 French Open)
Sets win-loss at 2021 US Open: 10-3
Games win-loss at 2021 US Open: 81-64
Time spent on court through QFs: 10 hours, 24 minutes
By a substantial margin, Fernandez has worked the hardest of any of the semifinalists to reach the Round of 4, requiring three sets in each of her last three matches, including a grueling duel with Svitolina in the quarterfinals that went nearly two-and-a-half hours and culminated in a third-set tiebreak. For perspective, Fernandez’s shortest match—a 7-6, 6-2, one-hour, 45-minute victory over Ana Konjuh in the opening round—went more than 20 minutes beyond Raducanu’s longest match. Fortunately for her, unlike Raducanu and Sakkari, the recently turned 19-year-old had a day off prior to Thursday night’s semis. Also of note, Fernandez played three rounds in women’s doubles, stretching an additional seven sets, something that none of the other three semifinalists attempted.
Previous best US Open finish: N/A (first main draw)
Previous best Grand Slam showing: R4 (2021 Wimbledon)
Sets win-loss at 2021 US Open: 10-0 (main draw only)
Games win-loss at 2021 US Open: 60-22 (main draw only)
Time spent on court through QFs: 6 hours, 18 minutes (main draw only)
Winning seven matches at the US Open is a tall order. Raducanu will be attempting to win 10. The British teen sensation came through qualifying to reach this stage, which makes her the first qualifier in US Open history to advance to the semifinals and also means she has logged a lot of matches on Flushing’s hard courts over the last three weeks. But, surprisingly, not many hours. Raducanu’s time on court in the main draw is the least of any of the semifinalists, with her longest matches lasting just one hour, 22 minutes (second round over Zhang Shuai and quarterfinals over Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic). She is also the only of the semifinalists not to have surrendered a set, a run that extends to the qualifying tournament. In fact, her toughest match yet was a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Mariam Bolkvadze in the second round of qualifying.
* The women who won their maiden or only Slam at the US Open in recent years are Flavia Pennetta (2015), Sloane Stephens (2017), Osaka (2018) and Andreescu (2019). The only repeat Slam champs during that time are Angelique Kerber (2016) and Osaka (2020).
