Add The New York Post on Google Five women to watch at this year’s U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows.
She’s the top seed and the favorite. The World No. 1 is an eye-watering 20-1 at Flushing Meadows since 2023, one imperious Coco Gauff performance away from going for a four-peat. But she hasn’t won a title since the Sunshine Double and is getting beaten by inferior players lately.
Asked Friday if anything is wrong with her game, she fired back, “Maybe there’s something wrong with people.” OK, then.
At this point last year, Gauff’s serve was errant, double-faults were an issue and her career was grinding gears. But after a biomechanics specialist helped her serve and a year of growth helped her mindset, she enters as the No. 4 seed and is the hottest woman on tour with a deep run at Wimbledon and title in Cincinnati.
Gauff: “It just grew. Specifically, my experience last year was so tough for me on the court. … Then the Open finished and life is [still] normal. Sometimes I ride and die on my results, just because [of] how competitive and perfectionist I am. I find that every time I’ve done well at a tournament is when I’ve taken a step back and just focus on the joy of it all.”
A semifinalist last year and finalist the year before that, the No. 3 seed has a game that is rock-solid but will leave questions about whether she can ever claim a major until she finally breaks through to do it. The American deserves her flowers for amplifying player voices and negotiating better wages. But can she win the big one? Pegula: “Looking back, I’m a much better player now. To be honest, I’m doing a lot of things better now. That doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to do them better all the time, but I do think there are things I’ve improved since that final.”
Elena Rybakina’s freak leg injury in Cincinnati casts a cloud on her status, and may help open the door for No. 8 seed Swiatek to make this list. She has championship DNA — with three straight French Open crowns and a title here in Flushing in 2022 — along with newfound form on the North American hardcourts. If her nerve holds, she’s dangerous. And speaking of wild cards …
The former Elmont native is a 13th-seeded wild card, and always a contender. She won the U.S. Open in 2018 and ’20, then after childbirth and a mid-career derailing she stormed back to make last year’s semifinals.
She hasn’t won a title this season but can dominate anybody in the field on her day.
How many of those days can she string together here in Flushing over the next two weeks?
