Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur dedicated her shock victory over Simona Halep in the opening round of the US Open to the people in her war-torn country.

The world number 124 marked her debut in the main draw of a major with a 6-2 0-6 6-4 win at Flushing Meadows on Monday.

Snigur is the lowest-ranked player to win a grand slam match against Halep – one of the favourites for the title – since Maria Sharapova at the same tournament in 2017.

She is also the first female qualifier to win a US Open match against a top-10 seed since Johanna Konta eliminated Garbine Muguruza seven years ago.

 

Making Snigur's achievement all the more incredible is that the 20-year-old's training base in Kyiv was bombed by Russia, forcing her to instead prepare for the event in Riga.

Reflecting on the biggest win of her burgeoning career, a tearful Snigur said: "This is a victory for Ukraine, for all Ukrainian people, for my family, for my team.

"The situation is bad, of course. I try to do the best for Ukraine, I try to support my country.

"It's not so easy because the war is continuing. Sometimes it's impossible to play but I try to do my best because I want to live in Ukraine.

"I have to say thanks to Simona for this incredible match. I want to thank all the fans who watched our match today."

Two-time major champion Halep has lost just three of her past 19 first-round matches in grand slams, though each of those have come at the US Open.

Snigur will now face Rebecca Marino, who defeated Magdalena Frech in straight sets to advance to the second round.

Serena Williams joined elite company in the final tournament of her playing career becoming the fourth player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam match in her teens, 20s, 30s and 40s.

Williams joined 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova, former world number four and three-time major semi-finalist Kimiko Date Krumm and six-time major winner and sister Venus Williams in achieving the feat.

The American's 6-3 6-3 win over Danka Kovinic in the US Open first round on Monday comes ahead of her 41st birthday next month, with Williams aged 40 years and 337 days.

The 40-year-old has been lauded for her decorated playing career, highlighted by 23 Grand Slam titles, but none of that is possible without endurability.

Williams's career spans 27 years, having turned professional in 1995 and having first played in a major in 1998 at the Australian Open. She played in that year's US Open too and has won every first-round match at Flushing Meadows in her career (21).

The ceremony and pomp after Monday's win was bigger than ever, with words from Oprah Winfrey and Billie Jean King along with an extended interview conducted by Gayle King with Williams, followed by a crowd display of signs reading "We love Serena".

It all offered a level of finality, despite Williams still being live in the tournament, albeit with a tougher test against second seed Anett Kontaveit to come on Wednesday.

Despite all that Williams, who has steered clear of the word retirement instead using "evolution", teased reporters when she replied to a question about the US Open definitively being her final tournament with a smile: "Yeah, I've been pretty vague about it, right? I'm going to stay vague because you never know."

Serena Williams says the "crazy" crowd support she received in Monday's US Open first-round clash with Danka Kovinic helped will her over the line for a hard-fought victory.

The 40-year-old, who will end her decorated playing career after this year's US Open, triumphed in one hour and 39 minutes with a 6-3 6-3 win amid raucous scenes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It was a star-studded turnout at the stadium to watch what could have been Williams' last singles' match, but the six-time US Open winner proved too good, extending her farewell campaign.

Despite staying live in the tournament, Williams was honoured with a lengthy post-match ceremony including addresses from Oprah Winfrey and Billie Jean King and an extended interview with Gayle King, followed by a pre-organised crowd display where letters on cards showed the words "We Love Serena".

The 23-time Grand Slam champion appeared nervy early, including two double faults in the first game, and letting a 2-0 lead slip to trail by a break at 2-3 in the first set.

Williams won the next four games to clinch the opening frame and was decisive in the second set.

"The crowd was crazy," Williams said. "It really helped pull me through… I was really calm. Yes, I got this."

The triumph marked the first step on Williams' farewell tour at the US Open, although she has a sterner test next in the second round against second seed Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday which will likely attract another wild crowd.

"Just keep coming out and supporting me as long as I'm here, and know that I love you so much and I'm so excited to be here," Williams said.

Williams was asked about her decision to move on from playing tennis, which she described as her "evolution" rather than retirement in an essay in Vogue.

"It's been a very hard decision," she said.

"I think when you're passionate about something and you love something so much, it's always hard to walk away.

"Sometimes I think it's harder to walk away than to not. That's been the case for me. I've been trying to decide for a little while what to do.

"I think now's the time. I just have a family. There's other chapters in life. I call it evolution."

Serena Williams battled nerves early but has commenced their US Open farewell campaign with a first-round victory over Danka Kovinic in front of a loud Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd on Monday.

The 22-time major champion, who will end her decorated tennis career after the Flushing Meadows tournament, triumphed in one hour and 39 minutes over the unseeded Montenegrin 6-3 6-3.

Williams will face a bigger test next on Wednesday against second seed Anett Kontaveit who eased past Jaqueline Cristian 6-3 6-0.

Given Williams' impending retirement, there was a sense of expectation but also trepidation inside the star-studded center court and the 40-year-old appeared nervous early on with two double faults in a row in the first game.

But after a topsy turvy first set that included five breaks of serve, Williams eventually got a stronghold of the contest.

Williams improved as the match wore on, hitting 23-18 winners, with Kovinic having 28-9 forced errors.

Kovinic won three games in a row after Williams led 2-0 early, but the American responded in the sixth game to break back to square it up and never looked back.

Williams was forced to save four break points in an epic service game before converting set point after back-to-back aces.

The six-time US Open champion broke Kovinic in the fifth game of the second set to assert her control on the contest, before clinching the match by breaking to love.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Kovinic – 18/25 
Williams – 23/25

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Kovinic – 6/8 
Williams – 9/6

BREAK POINTS WON
Kovinic – 2/10
Williams – 5/11

Simona Halep was the first big casualty at the US Open when she was sensationally beaten by qualifier Daria Snigur on day one.

Halep arrived at Flushing Meadows as one of the favourites to win the title after she was crowned Canadian Open champion this month.

The two-time grand slam champion fell at the first hurdle, though, as Ukrainian Snigur consigned her to a stunning 6-2 0-6 6-4 defeat on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Making her first appearance in the main draw at a major, the unheralded 20-year-old was rewarded for a positive approach, winning eight out of 12 points at the net and breaking five times.

Halep swept the world number 124 aside in the second set, but the outsider claimed the upper hand with break in the first game of the decider and went on to open up a 5-1 lead.

The former world number one showed her fighting spirit to hang in there, reducing the deficit to 5-4, but Snigur demonstrated nerves of steel to serve out the match and looked as shocked as anyone after sealing her place in the second round in New York.

Halep paid the price for 30 unforced errors, crashing out after a run to the semi-final in the last major at Wimbledon.

Emma Raducanu can deal with the high expectations around her but needs to find a coach and stick with them, according to former British number one John Lloyd.

Raducanu is set to defend her US Open title at Flushing Meadows as the final grand slam of the year gets underway on Monday.

The teenager's sensational success at the 2021 tournament as a qualifier came from nowhere, but she has been unable to replicate it since, having not won any further singles titles.

In fact, she has not even been beyond the quarter-finals of any slam or WTA Tour event since her extraordinary success.

Lloyd still struggles to comprehend her achievement.

Speaking to Stats Perform, Lloyd said: "When you win a slam the expectations are going to go through the roof, that's just the way it is.

"She achieved something, I'd liken it to Rocky, it was very similar. People have sent me film scripts like the one Wimbledon, the tennis film that came out, and I told the person, they sent me the script six months before, I said, 'This is stupid, stop coming up with these movies where you get some guy or woman comes up from the qualifiers and wins a grand slam, it doesn't happen, it's stupid, it's never going to happen.' And then she goes and does it.

"What she achieved was amazing, but she did it almost like getting an A in a test without doing the homework. She really didn't do the homework to get there.

"She hasn't done the miles yet, and her body hasn't, the toughness hasn't come. She went above it before she was ready in some ways, but she's already got it, that's in her pocket now. She is a slam winner and no-one can take that away from her.

"The expectations are unbelievably high, and they're going be and she has to face that fact, she can’t hide it, she's a slam winner so people are going to expect, but people in the game know that it was going be a tough year [for her]."

The 19-year-old split from her coach Torben Beltz in April after just six months, saying she needed "a new training model" and she has been working with Dmitry Tursunov on a trial basis in the last month.

Beltz became the third coach to move on from working with Raducanu in just 12 months after she swapped Nigel Sears for Andrew Richardson, who had been in her corner at last year's US Open.

Lloyd acknowledges there is not necessarily a right way to do things in tennis, though he is certainly not convinced by Raducanu's approach of choosing a new coach every few months.

"I'm not a big fan of the coaching situation," Lloyd added. "After what Richard Williams did [coaching Venus and Serena Williams] … to say that there's a norm, he threw that out the window.

"What they're doing now in coaching is almost like they're getting hold of coaches, soaking up like a sponge all the information they have and then they go onto the next. I don't think that works in tennis. I could be proved wrong, but I don't think that's right.

"You have to have coaches that you trust completely, because I think a lot of winning matches – I don't want to give too much credit to coaches because it's the person on the court that does the work – but I think a lot of matches are won by the night before the match, and even the morning of the match… you have a trust a coach and what they're saying to you.

"You're a unit, and I don't think chopping and changing having a different coach every three months is the right way to go about. I could be wrong but I think she has to have a settled coach."

Serena Williams will go out with "full force" when she begins her final US Open campaign before retiring, according to Chris Evert.

Williams will have one last chance to match Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 grand slam singles titles at Flushing Meadows, as well as an opportunity to wave goodbye to her adoring fans on home soil.

While a challenge for the trophy looks highly improbable for Williams this time around, fellow six-time US Open winner Evert suspects the 40-year-old will take some shifting from the draw.

According to Evert, "the edge is off" when it comes to Williams and her remaining tennis goals, meaning she has reconciled herself to the likelihood of finishing her career with 23 singles majors.

Williams has revealed family matters and business interests were key to her decision to "evolve away" from the sport, and with her on-court returns diminishing, now seems the time to head in that direction.

Yet Evert can see Williams, who faces Danka Kovinic in round one in New York, giving a good account of herself during her US Open swansong.

"Serena isn't coming out to play her last match; she's coming out with full force," Evert said on ESPN. 

"The way she's been practising this week, she's here to compete, she's here to win, and I don't even think she's thinking about retirement at this stage."

Williams holds a 106-14 win-loss record in singles at the US Open. Her match wins tally at Flushing Meadows is the highest by any woman at the competition in the Open Era, and only Martina Navratilova has more at a single slam, achieving an astonishing 120 victories at Wimbledon.

Williams and Evert lead the way in women's US Open titles in the professional era (since 1968), and regardless of final grand slam tallies, there will always be debate over who ranks as the greatest player of all time.

Williams certainly has a strong case, yet Navratilova (1,442), Evert (1,309) and Steffi Graf (900) all won more WTA-level matches than Williams (856), who often played a limited schedule.

Court has the most grand slam titles on the women's all-time list, with a remarkable haul of 64 when women's doubles and mixed doubles are included. Navratilova is next with 59, before Williams and Billie Jean King sit joint third with 39 majors apiece.

Scheduling self-preservation has allowed Williams to play on for so long, and John McEnroe has raised the question of what might happen if his fellow American surprises herself by clinching a seventh Flushing Meadows triumph. 

"If she did happen to win this, don't you think it'd be tempting to go and break the record?" McEnroe asked.

Four-time US Open singles champion McEnroe added: "I think she's accepting, as much as Serena Williams can, that she's not going to win this.

"Maybe deep down she's found some sort of belief that maybe somehow, if she gets the right set of situations going, she can make a real run."

More realistic, in McEnroe's mind, is the prospect of Williams and sister Venus having a deep run in the doubles after they were handed a wildcard.

As a partnership, the siblings have won 14 grand slam doubles titles, never losing in a final at the majors.

"The two of them in doubles, where they're covering half the court and they're still able to do their thing, that would be a hell of a way to go out," McEnroe said.

Serena Williams' former coach Rick Macci does not foresee a dream US Open triumph for the retiring legend, but believes the Flushing Meadows crowd could help her enjoy a strong run.

Williams, who announced she was "evolving away" from tennis earlier this month, will begin her final US Open campaign against Danka Kovinic on Monday.

While the 40-year-old's tally of 23 grand slam titles is the most of any player in the Open Era (since 1968), she remains one victory short of Margaret Court's all-time record of 24. 

But Macci, who coached both Williams and older sister Venus at the beginning of their trophy-laden careers, struggles to see her adding one final title before signing off.

"They asked me can Serena Williams win the US Open and I said she already has, six times," Macci told Stats Perform. 

"Can she? It's highly unlikely simply because people aren't afraid of her, the movement and confidence aren't like it was because she hasn't played, she hasn't played that much in the last year and you need to play to get your footwork and stamina. 

"The fighting spirit, the Compton street fight and the heart is there. If she gets a good draw, she could beat some people. I like how she played against [Emma] Raducanu [a 6-4 6-0 loss in Cincinnati earlier in August], I like that she's more aggressive, but this takes time. 

"If she can win a few matches who knows what could happen? That crowd in New York is going to take her down memory lane and make her even more competitive, who knows what's going to happen to the person on the other side of the net?

 

"That's why I was so impressed with Raducanu, the way she handled that moment, she played the best match she had in a year. 

"It cuts both ways but it's highly unlikely she can win the Open. 

"She's not even looking at it like that, she's letting everyone savour the moment and going out on her terms and it's going to be must-see tv."

Asked who he thought would emerge victorious at Flushing Meadows, Macci tipped another American to win on home soil, adding: "I'd love to see Coco Gauff because I know the family and I think she has wonderful potential.

"Iga [Swiatek] is vulnerable now because when you win 35 in a row, you feel like you just show up you're going to win. 

"Now that she's lost a few there's a little doubt there. It's wide open, I'm going to go out on a limb and I'm taking Coco Gauff."

As for the men's draw, which appears balanced after Novak Djokovic's non-vaccinated status prevented him from travelling to New York, Macci thinks third seed Carlos Alcaraz could be set for a maiden grand slam win.

"I've already gone out there and talked about this, Carlos Alcaraz is a generational player, he's going to transcend the game," Macci added.

"I've already had people blow back on me like, 'why isn't he winning?' Trust me, he just turned 19 and is [number] four or five in the world, I think he'll win multiple grand slams and he's the next real deal and he's my favourite to win the US Open on the men's side."

Djokovic is not alone in missing the US Open, with Roger Federer also absent as he continues his recovery from knee surgery, while Rafael Nadal is making his first appearance at the slam since triumphing in 2019.

Four different men have tasted success at Flushing Meadows in the last four years, while each of the last three editions have featured different women's singles champions, and Macci believes the issues endured by several ageing greats have made tennis more competitive.

 

"I think a lot of people are heading toward exit stage left and they're not quite at the top, [such as] Federer, or maybe there's the vaccination and maybe Nadal you're not quite where you were and [Andy] Murray," he added.

"Then you've got Serena, you've got these people who are household names that are out of the equation, more people are coming in and it changes everything when you don't have those roadblocks at the round of 16. 

"You're looking at the semis when before, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray just dominated. There was a time when those four were always in the semis. The women's you could almost predict, now you can't.

"It has nothing to do with the US Open because the young lady that won Wimbledon [Elena Rybakina], you never heard of her. It's just wide open and it's going to take a while to stabilise everything." 

Serena Williams begins her final US Open singles mission on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night – with opponent Danka Kovinic describing her own opportunity as "a privilege and an honour".

Kovinic, the world number 80 from Montenegro, essentially serves as the support act to headliner Williams, who will draw a full house to Arthur Ashe Stadium for the opening match of the evening session.

If Kovinic has her way, she will be the player who ends Williams' singles career, and the 27-year-old has reached the third round of both the Australian Open and French Open this year.

However, Kovinic is on a five-match losing streak that began with a loss to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in round three of the French Open.

Such a dismal run has prompted some, including American tennis great Chris Evert, to suggest Williams has been handed a favourable draw. Williams has scored just one win in four matches since launching a tour comeback at Wimbledon, however.

"I was warming up for practice [on Thursday] and my coach told me, 'You play Serena', and I was like, 'That's great', because honestly I felt that," Kovinic said of her draw.

"It's such a privilege and honour. It is a special moment for me as well. I never had an opportunity to practice with Serena. Hopefully I won't feel too much pressure on Ashe Stadium."

Kovinic, who beat reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu in round two of the Australian Open, said she and her coaching team would devise a plan to take on 23-time grand slam singles winner Williams.

She said she also intended to sound out former world number one Jelena Jankovic, a personal friend, for advice on how to tackle a player many regard as the greatest of all time.

"Hopefully she will have some good tips to give me," Kovinic told ESPN.

Jankovic won four of her 14 matches against a prime era Williams.

Williams, who turns 41 next month, is assured of passionate support from the New York crowd. She is a six-time US Open singles winner, first taking the title as a 17-year-old in 1999, when she beat Martina Hingis.

"I had some experience on the big stages this year, with Swiatek and with Emma Raducanu," said Kovinic, "but I think this is something special."

She said she had not given particular thought to the prospect of beating Williams, and it could be an overwhelming experience, given the heightened sense of occasion.

"I think maybe 30 minutes before the match I will have nerves because I couldn't wait to step on court," Kovinic said. "Hopefully I can show a great game."

If Williams is beaten in round one at Flushing Meadows, her career will not quite be over. She would still have a doubles assignment to come after she and sister Venus decided to have one last dash at glory together.

Jordan. Ali. Woods. Williams. That's it, that's the company.

Serena Williams is about to draw the curtain on one of the great sporting careers.

A brilliant black sports star excelling on a global stage, she has shifted and shaped opinions over the past 25 years.

Her life has been touched by tragedy as well as great joy, and she has just about lived to tell the tale.

As she prepares for her final US Open, Stats Perform looks back at the obstacles that have been put in front of the 23-time grand slam champion. 

Racism since her early days

After learning the game in Compton, Williams and sister Venus endured plenty of outrageous treatment before a notorious incident in 2001 at Indian Wells.

Russian Elena Dementieva reacted to a quarter-final defeat to Venus by saying the semi-final between the sisters would be determined by their father, Richard. That baseless allegation of manipulation was followed by an injured Venus withdrawing from the match against Serena shortly before its start time.

Serena met Kim Clijsters in the final, and there were grim jeers for Venus and Richard when both took their grandstand seats. They and Serena copped brutal treatment from spectators, with Richard stating he was racially abused.

Serena beat Clijsters but did not play at Indian Wells again until 2015, recalling her memories of 2001 in an article for Time, explaining it had "haunted" the family, particularly her father.

She wrote: "He dedicated his whole life to prepping us for this incredible journey, and there he had to sit and watch his daughter being taunted, sparking cold memories of his experiences growing up in the South."

Williams told Sirius XM in February 2021: "I had to make people realise that it's okay to be black and to play tennis."

Sexism never far away

Williams considered causing a scene at Wimbledon in 2011 after being sent out to the distant Court Two to play a second-round match.

It seemed a bizarre move – probably just ignorant – to put the defending women's champion anywhere but Centre or Court One, and while she was reluctant to fully vent her frustration, it was obvious enough.

Seemingly pointing a finger at those in power, Williams said: "They're not going to change."

An angry Williams accused chair umpire Carlos Ramos of sexism in a stormy 2018 US Open final, when she lost to Naomi Osaka.

Williams was warned for receiving coaching on court, which she denied, then penalised a point for racket abuse, before being docked a game after accusing Ramos of being "a thief".

"I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality and for all kinds of stuff," Williams said afterwards. "For me to say 'thief' and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He's never taken a game from a man because they said 'thief'."

Williams was fined $17,000 by tournament chiefs but backed by the WTA, which runs the women's tour outside the slams.

Perilous childbirth

In February 2018, Williams wrote an article for CNN that began with the line: "I almost died after giving birth to my daughter, Olympia."

She wrote of having had "a pretty easy pregnancy" and a routine C-section in August 2017, only for that to be followed by a pulmonary embolism and "a slew of health complications" she was "lucky to have survived", including a large hematoma in her abdomen. Her first six weeks as a mother were spent in bed.

Sister's death

It was September 2003, shortly after Williams underwent knee surgery that forced her out of the US Open, that her sister Yetunde Price was shot and killed in Compton.

Price was 31, with a local gangster sentenced to 15 years for voluntary manslaughter.

Williams addressed court after the April 2006 sentencing of Price's killer, saying she had "wanted to let you know that this was unfair to our family, and our family has always been positive and we always try to help people".

In 2018, Williams was trounced 6-1 6-0 by British player Johanna Konta at the Silicon Valley Classic. She came onto court moments after learning the man who shot her sister dead had been freed from prison, and later told Time: "I couldn't shake it out of my mind."

Walking on broken glass

It's an idiom, and an Annie Lennox song, but walking on broken glass was almost the moment that ended Williams' career.

It could have been a case of unlucky 13 for Williams in July 2010 when within days of winning her 13th grand slam title she suffered a foot injury, and later revealed it had been caused by stepping on glass while leaving a Munich restaurant.

She told USA Today: "I was standing, recovering, thinking I got a little cut and telling my nephew, who was with us, to be careful. Then my practice partner put a cellphone down to the floor so we could see, and there was a huge puddle of blood. I said, 'OMG, I don't think this is good'."

She needed both feet stitching up and underwent surgery to fix a drooping big toe, missing almost a full year on tour. Early in 2011 she underwent treatment for a pulmonary embolism and blood clot in her lungs, after checks were carried out during her recovery.

Chasing Court

Margaret Court has been the figure Williams has chased but looks destined to fall short of, with the Australian set to remain tantalisingly out of reach.

Four final losses for Williams since landing her 23rd major have been increasingly agonising, and it has been clear that her primary motivation for playing on all this time has been to surpass Court.

Court's controversial views on the LGBTQ community have upset many in tennis. Williams, however, just wanted to finish top of the pile, regardless of who was presently leading the way in the grand slam race.

Barring a sporting near-miracle over the US Open fortnight, she will remain second in that race, albeit the grand slam leader in the Open Era – winner of the most titles since the majors embraced professionalism in 1968.

Serena Williams is bowing out, and she will end her remarkable career at the place she truly broke onto the world stage.

Williams' upcoming appearance at Flushing Meadows won't just be her last at the US Open, but her last in any tournament. She is retiring at the age of 40, with 23 grand slam singles titles to her name.

That is a record haul for any player, male or female, in the Open Era, but it is one short of Margaret Court's all-time tally.

Barring an unlikely charge for a first major win since the 2017 Australian Open, Court's record will remain intact for now.

The first slam singles title for Williams came way back in 1999, at the US Open. She has had ups and downs at the tournament through the years, but here Stats Perform looks at Williams' greatest Flushing Meadows achievements.

 

1999: Maiden grand slam success

Williams missed Wimbledon through injury but returned with a victory in Los Angeles at the JPMorgan Chase Open, setting the stage for an incredible maiden grand slam triumph. She defeated WTA greats Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martínez, Monica Seles and defending champion Lindsay Davenport to reach the final in New York. World number one Martina Hingis stood in her way, but the Swiss was no match – Williams won 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to truly make her mark at the age of 17.

2002: Sibling rivalry

Williams reached the final of the 2001 tournament, but it was her older sister Venus who triumphed. It was the first grand slam tournament to be contested by two sisters during the Open Era. The following year, the super siblings matched up in three of the four majors, and it was Serena who came up trumps in all three, capping that off with a 6-4 6-3 triumph at the US Open. The younger Williams sibling went on to win the Australian Open in 2003 too, sealing the 'Serena Slam' and making her the first player to hold the four major titles simultaneously since Steffi Graf in 1994.

2012: Azarenka challenge

Williams has enjoyed plenty of thrilling rivalries down the years, and, Venus aside, arguably the standout of them all has been the battle she has enjoyed with Victoria Azarenka. The pair have contested 23 matches in total, with Serena holding an 18-5 winning record. Their first meeting in a grand slam final came in 2012 at Flushing Meadows, in a season that had already seen Williams beat the Belarusian three times, including in the semi-finals of Wimbledon and in the last four of the London Olympics, also held at the All England Club, and she continued that run with a hard-fought 6-2 2-6 7-5 triumph in New York, battling back from 5-3 down and within two points of defeat in the deciding set to win a 15th major.

 

2014: Three in a row kick-starts Serena Slam II

Williams went on to defeat Azarenka again in the 2013 final, and she made it three US Open titles on the bounce with a straight-sets defeat of Caroline Wozniacki a year later. It saw Williams equal the Open Era record of 18 singles major titles, matching Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, and she did not lose a set across the entire tournament. This triumph also paved the way for her second 'Serena Slam', as like in 2002-03, Williams went on to win all four majors in a row.

2020: History maker

No stranger to records, it is fitting that the last time Williams appeared at the US Open – before this year – she went on to etch her name into the Flushing Meadows history books yet again. A 7-5 6-3 first-round win over Kristie Ahn was hardly the most convincing of starts, but it saw Williams reach 102 match wins at the tournament, overtaking six-time champion Evert for the most career singles wins at the competition by a male or female player. She reached the semi-finals, becoming the first player in history to reach the last four of a major in four different decades (the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s), but lost to old foe Azarenka, who in turn went down to Naomi Osaka in the showpiece.

Daria Kasatkina dug deep to fend off Daria Saville in the Granby Championships final and land the sixth WTA singles title of her career.

World number 10 Kasatkina took a 6-4 6-4 victory in one hour and 53 minutes of hard battle with her great friend, Saville showing resilience despite struggling with an ankle problem.

The outcome made Kasatkina the second Russian winner of the day on the WTA Tour after Liudmila Samsonova took the Tennis In The Land title in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kasatkina, who also won the Silicon Valley Classic in early August, will turn her focus away from a successful week in Canada and towards the US Open, which gets under way in New York on Monday.

The 25-year-old will be targeting a deep run at Flushing Meadows after achieving her best grand slam result in June when she reached the French Open semi-finals, before being prevented from playing Wimbledon due to a blanket ban on players from Russia and Belarus imposed by the All England Club.

In the second set of a gruelling and gripping tussle, Saville looked nailed on to come from 4-1 down to level at 4-4 when she led 40-0 in the eighth game, only for her game to briefly disintegrate, allowing Kasatkina to move 5-3 ahead.

Still, it was an unsteady Kasatkina at the other end of the court, and the Barcelona-based player was broken by Saville when serving for the match.

There was nothing secure about Saville on serve either, and Kasatkina had two match points in the next game at 15-40. She was unable to take either, or the third and fourth that arrived soon after. On her fifth opportunity, Kasatkina was relieved to see Saville hit wide.

Kasatkina begins her US Open campaign against British qualifier Harriet Dart on Monday, while Saville starts on the same day against Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Serena and Venus Williams have accepted a wildcard entry to play the women's doubles at the US Open.

The two-time doubles winners at Flushing Meadows are likely to appear at the tournament for the final time in 2022, with Serena having already announced her intentions to soon retire from tennis.

Both sisters have entered the singles draw, with Serena facing Danka Kovinic in round one while Venus begins her campaign against Alison van Uytvanck.

The pair have not played a major doubles event together since the 2018 French Open, suffering defeat in the third round, and were last paired in New York in 2014, when they reached the quarter-finals.

However, the duo boast 14 major doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals together and are to be reunited again after the US Open announced the 14 wildcard pairs for the doubles events on Saturday.

Serena's involvement at the US Open begins on Monday, with Venus following on Tuesday, before the first round of the women's doubles is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Liudmila Samsonova headed off to the US Open with a second successive title in the bag after sweeping to victory on Saturday at the Tennis In The Land tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Russian scorched to a 6-1 6-3 demolition of Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, extending her winning streak to 10 matches after winning the Citi Open earlier in August.

Samsonova rolled past the in-form Bernarda Pera for the loss of just three games in the Cleveland semi-finals, before imposing a similarly commanding display on the trophy match against seventh seed Sasnovich.

Just nine places in the world rankings separated the two finalists heading into the final, with Sasnovich at number 36 the higher-placed player, but she could not cope with an opponent who did not lose a set all week.

Indeed, Samsonova only dropped 18 games across five matches, the 23-year-old tying up a third career title on the WTA Tour. Sasnovich has now lost all four of her finals.

At Flushing Meadows, Samsonova begins her campaign against Czech world number 194 Sara Bejlek and could face last year's runner-up Leylah Fernandez in round two.

Both Samsonova and Sasnovich have to play as neutrals for now, being unable to perform under the flags of their home countries because of Russian and Belarusian involvement in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Samsonova said of Saturday's win: "We made a special final. We were both without the flag, so it's special.

"I think it's important to spend a minute to say we are very good people."

There seems to be no escaping the number 23 for Serena Williams as she prepares for an emotional final grand slam at the US Open.

It is 23 years since the legendary American won her first major singles title at Flushing Meadows, where she was also crowned doubles champion back in 1999.

Williams has gone on to win an astonishing 23 grand slam singles titles and 14 major doubles titles in an incredible career that is about to come to an end in New York.

One of the all-time greats turns 42 next month and although she is unlikely to bow out by claiming an elusive 24th major singles title in her home major, she is sure to be given a spine-tingling farewell.

Novak Djokovic's absence due to not being vaccinated against COVID-19 has been the big talking point in the men's singles, with Rafael Nadal getting an opportunity to extend his record tally of major successes.

Stats Perform picks out the standout numbers to preview the final major of the year as Emma Raducanu and Daniil Medvedev prepare to defend their titles.

Serena's incredible longevity

Such is the remarkable longevity of Williams' career, defending champion Raducanu and world number one Iga Swiatek were not even born when she won her first major.

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina was only a few months old when the iconic Saginaw native beat Martina Hingis in the 1999 US Open final for the first of so many major titles.

Only Chris Evert can boast as many US Open titles as Williams' tally of six in the Open Era, while she has played in a record 10 finals at Flushing Meadows.

The retiring veteran has 106 victories in her home major, a record in the Open Era, and only Martina Navratilova has recorded more wins in a single major - with 120 at Wimbledon.

Williams will be making her 21st main-draw appearance at the US Open, with only her older sister, Venus, bettering that figure in the Open Era as she prepares for her 23rd.

 

Long-awaited New York return for Nadal 

Nadal has not played at Flushing Meadows since he was crowned champion for a fourth time three years ago, having missed the 2020 tournament amid the coronavirus pandemic and not played last year due to a foot injury.

The Spanish great's hopes of completing a first calendar Grand Slam were ended by an abdominal injury that resulted in his withdrawal from Wimbledon ahead of a scheduled semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.

He could make it three major titles out of four this year in New York, though, where he will be bidding to take his haul of grand slam titles to 23 and move two clear of the absent Djokovic once again.

If Nadal lifts the trophy on Arthur Ashe Stadium, it would give him a record-equalling fifth US Open men's singles title - matching the haul of Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

Only Bjorn Borg (89.2 per cent) has a higher winning ratio in grand slam tournaments during the Open Era than Nadal's 88.3 per cent among players with at least 100 victories to their name, 

 

Another record in women's singles?

Teenage Brit Raducanu made history when she became the first qualifier to win a major title last year, beating Leylah Fernandez in the final.

Swiatek has dominated the women's game for much of this year, the highlight being her second French Open triumph.

With the retired Ash Barty, Swiatek and Rybakina taking the singles titles in 2022, there could be four different gram slam champions for a fifth consecutive season - excluding 2020 - and that would be the longest such streak in the Open Era.

Alcaraz to make major breakthrough?

While Nadal will be the Spaniard with the largest burden of expectation on his shoulders, Carlos Alcaraz should be a big threat in New York.

The 19-year-old could become the fifth player in the Open Era to reach at least the quarter-finals in his first two appearances at Flushing Meadows after Ken Rosewall, Arthur Ashe, John Newcombe and Johan Kriek.

Alcaraz has the joint-most ATP Tour titles this year with four, matching Nadal's tally.

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