US Open: Women preview – USA hope for Gauff, Pegula – How fit is Bencic? – Sports

Favorite quintet

She sat with me for more than 500 days Swiatk The same player on the WTA throne. The Pole also travels to New York as the defending champion. It is no surprise that the 22-year-old is one of the hottest contenders for the US Open title.

Recently, however, Swiatek had to suffer two critical defeats. At the WTA 1000 in Montreal, he tied the 4-time winner of the title Jessica Pegula (WTA 3) in 3 sentences Luxor. Then the American also won the final and managed to gain a lot of self-confidence before the Grand Slam took place at home.

Pegula isn’t the only reason American tennis fans are hoping for the first US Open victory by a local player since Sloane Stephens in 2017. Also Coco Jove (WTA 6) is in impressive condition. It was the 19-year-old who brought Swiatek to his knees at the WTA 1000 Championships in Cincinnati – and then, like Pegula the week before, won the title.

A speech should also be made on the prize money of US$ 3 million for the winner Sabalenka (WTA 2) f Elena Rybakina (WTA 4) Have an opinion. So far this season, Sabalenka has reached at least the semi-finals of major tournaments. Rybakina never advanced to the second week of the US Open. With her powerful serve and attacking play, the Kazakh poses a great danger to every opponent.

Watch out for…

• Karolina Muchova (WTA 10): The Czechs have had bad luck with injuries in recent years. It looks like the French Open finalist’s body will be involved this year. In Cincinnati, Muchova had to bow to Gauff first in the final.

• Marketa Vondrousova (9 ATP): Nobody expected you to win Wimbledon a few weeks ago. At the US Open, the Muchova compatriot should be getting more attention from the start of the tournament. Vondrousova hasn’t broken any major ropes on hard surfaces yet. With one exception: In 2021, the left-hander reached the Olympic final in Tokyo, where she lost to Belinda Bencic.

Swiss women

Only this benci He carries the Swiss flag in the main draw of the US Open. And the 26-year-old has never been more successful at a Grand Slam tournament than at Flushing Meadows, where she reached the quarter-finals twice and was a semi-finalist for the only time in 2019.

Bencic’s previous appearances at the US Open

Despite good results in the past, Bencic is not one of the favorites to win the title in New York this year. Her performances in recent months have seen a lot of ups and downs, and physical problems have troubled the residents of eastern Switzerland. At Wimbledon, she injured her right shoulder, and a few weeks later in Montreal, the unfortunate Bencic sprained his ankle and injured his ankle.

The opening match is sure to provide initial information on the Swiss’s fitness. The fit Bencic certainly has what it takes to be part of the game in Week 2. And who knows, maybe more.