The 2024 US Open is upon us. It is the final Grand Slam tournament of another exhilarating tennis season. Will the WTA season continue to conjure more surprises in the big tournaments this year?
Despite Barbora Krejcikova winning the most recent Major at Wimbledon (entirely out of the blue), tennis fans feel they are due for another fairytale story. But the consistency the top players show at these events, particularly in the last two years, suggests we could be in for a familiar script.
On that note, here’s a list of the top five favorites at the 2024 US Open women’s tournament. We also have a separate article with the Top 5 Men’s Favorites.
Top 5 Favorites To Win 2024 US Open Women’s Tournament
#5. Elena Rybakina
The primary reason why Elena Rybakina ranks so low on this list is because of documented health concerns. She hasn’t revealed what has been bothering her for the last few months. She did not compete at the Olympics and had a meltdown in Cincinnati this past week from two match points. She lost her opening match after compiling 17 double faults. But if Rybakina is capable of redlining her game and overcoming whatever it is that is ailing her, she could still finish her Grand Slam season on a winning note.
#4. Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff is the reigning champion, but it’s been a decade since a WTA player defended the US Open. Like last year when Gauff emulated her childhood idol Serena Williams in winning the US Open as a teenager, she’ll aim to do it back-to-back (last achieved by Serena 2012-2014).
The 20-year-old has underperformed massively in her previous two warm-up events, which is in complete contrast to 12 months ago when she won Washington and Cincinnati. The odds are stacked against her, but if the draw opens up as it did last year, Gauff will take the bull by the horns.
#3. Iga Swiatek
The US Open is the only non-clay Grand Slam Iga Swiatek has won in her career. So, if she is to add another hard-court major, it would most likely be in New York. Last year’s defeat to Jelena Ostapenko stung. Swiatek arrives at this year’s tournament with a much-improved mindset.
Many critics feel that Swiatek’s semifinal defeat to Qinwen Zheng at the Olympics would derail the remainder of her season. But if anything, she showed she can compete without dwelling on near misses and close defeats from the past. She’s only third on this list because the two women above her have been in exceptional form coming to the tournament.
#2. Jessica Pegula
Could this be the year Jessica Pegula wins her first Grand Slam? At the start of the season, many fans and pundits were convinced Pegula would break that quarterfinal barrier at a Major. A crushing second-round loss at the Australian Open was undoubtedly not what the doctor ordered. Midway through the season, there was a change of coaching personnel, and it took some adjusting by the experienced 30-year-old.
Pegula also dealt with two injury setbacks, and it wasn’t until the grass-court swing that she steered her season back on track. She arrives in New York on the back of two finals in Toronto and Cincinnati. She successfully defended the National Bank Open in Canada (the first time it has happened since 2000) and nearly completed a rare double but lost the Cincinnati final. She’s got the game to conquer the US Open; at this point, it is more of a mental strain than a physical one. If she solves that, we might be looking at a new first-time Grand Slam champion.
#1. Aryna Sabalenka
She’s the biggest favorite for a couple of reasons. Aryna Sabalenka has not lost before the quarterfinal at any Grand Slam tournament (not counting 2024 Wimbledon after withdrawing due to injury) since the 2022 French Open. In that time, the Belarusian played in three Grand Slam finals, winning the Australian Open twice and finishing as a runner-up at the 2023 US Open. She’s also steaming into this year’s New York Slam high on confidence after winning the last high-profile WTA 1000 of the summer hard-court swing in Cincinnati.
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
