(August 30, 2015) Profiles of the top Women’s Singles contenders for 2015 U.S. Open. Note: Grand Slam records for main draw matches only. – by Jack Cunniff http://twitter.com/jrcunniff
2015 Record: 48-2
Grand Slam Record: 280-39
U.S. Open Record: 79-9
U.S. Open Best Result: Won (1999, 2002, ’08, ’12, ’13, ‘14)
Fast Fact: Besides trying to become the 3rd woman to win the calendar year Grand Slam, Serena also trying to become the 3rd player to win five consecutive Grand Slam titles (Graf, 1988-89; Navratilova 1983-84).
Simona Halep
2015 Record: 40-11
Grand Slam Record: 32-21
U.S. Open Record: 7-5
U.S. Open Best Result: 4R (2013)
Fast Fact: Eighty percent of Halep’s 2015 wins have come on hard courts (32-5 on hard, 8-6 on other surfaces).
2015 Record: 34-7
Grand Slam Record: 179-43
U.S. Open Record: 32-9
U.S. Open Best Result: Won (2006)
Fast Fact: Since winning the 2006 U.S. Open, Sharapova has made it past the 4R only once at the event (2012, SF).
Caroline Wozniacki
2015 Record: 34-17
Grand Slam Record: 84-34
U.S. Open Record: 28-8
U.S. Open Best Result: RU (2009, ‘14)
Fast Fact: Between September 2014 – April 2015, Wozniacki reached the finals in 5 of the 14 events she played, but since then she has missed the finals in 9 consecutive events.
Petra Kvitova
2015 Record: 30-10
Grand Slam Record: 71-27
U.S. Open Record: 12-7
U.S. Open Best Result: 4R (2009, ‘12)
Fast Fact: Kvitova lost consecutive 1R matches in Toronto and Cincinnati, the first time since March 2011 that she’s suffered back-to-back 1R defeats.
Lucie Safarova
2015 Record: 31-16
Grand Slam Record: 51-41
U.S. Open Record: 11-10
U.S. Open Best Result: 4R (2014)
Fast Fact: Safarova is currently ranked No. 6 in both Singles and Doubles, giving her the highest combined ranking (12) of any player on tour.
2015 Record: 21-14
Grand Slam Record: 103-42
U.S. Open Record: 20-10
U.S. Open Best Result: QF (2012)
Fast Fact: In 2015, Ivanovic has defeated only one Top 20 player (Makarova, French Open).
Karolina Pliskova
2015 Record: 42-18
Grand Slam Record: 10-13
U.S. Open Record: 2-2
U.S. Open Best Result: 3R (2014)
Fast Fact: In August, Pliskova became the third player in WTA ranking history to reach the Top Ten without ever having made the 4R of a Grand Slam event (Manuela Maleeva, Catarina Lindqvist).
Garbine Muguruza
2015 Record: 27-15
Grand Slam Record: 23-11
U.S. Open Record: 0-2
U.S. Open Best Result: 1R (2012, ’14)
Fast Fact: Muguruza has a 14-2 record vs. lower ranked opponents at Grand Slams.
Carla Suarez Navarro
2015 Record: 35-17
Grand Slam Record: 47-27
U.S. Open Record: 11-7
U.S. Open Best Result: QF (2013)
Fast Fact: In her last four losses at Grand Slam events, Suarez Navarro has won a total of eighteen games, averaging 4.5 games per match.
Angelique Kerber
2015 Record: 39-15
Grand Slam Record: 52-31
U.S. Open Record: 14-7
U.S. Open Best Result: SF (2011)
Fast Fact: Over the last 5 months, Kerber has compiled a 31-6 record, winning 4 titles in the process.
Belinda Bencic
2015 Record: 33-18
Grand Slam Record: 11-7
U.S. Open Record: 4-1
U.S. Open Best Result: QF (2014)
Fast Fact: Since the French Open, Bencic has defeated 10 of the players seeded at the U.S. Open, including 4 of the top 8 seeds, while compiling a record of 23-5.
Ekaterina Makarova
2015 Record: 23-14
Grand Slam Record: 57-32
U.S. Open Record: 15-8
U.S. Open Best Result: SF (2014)
Fast Fact: She first played a Grand Slam event in 2007, but more than half of Makarova’s Grand Slam match wins (29) have come in the last nine events.
Agnieszka Radwanska
2015 Record: 32-20
Grand Slam Record: 98-37
U.S. Open Record: 17-9
U.S. Open Best Result: 4R (2007, ’08, ’12, ‘13)
Fast Fact: Radwanska has defeated a higher ranked opponent only once in 2015 (def. Pliskova, Eastbourne).
Victoria Azarenka
2015 Record: 29-11
Grand Slam Record: 110-35
U.S. Open Record: 28-9
U.S. Open Best Result: RU (2012, ’13)
Fast Fact: Since 2008, 22 0f the 27 matches Azarenka has lost in Grand Slam events were to players who have reached a Grand Slam final, including 10 losses to Serena Williams.
2015 Record: 24-10
Grand Slam Record: 227-59
U.S. Open Record: 64-13
U.S. Open Best Result: Won (2000, ’01)
Fast Fact: Venus is appearing in her 68th Grand Slam event, passing Martina Navratilova for the 2nd most appearances in the Open Era; she will become No. 1 in Grand Slam events played if she appears in all four of the majors in 2016 (Amy Frazier, 71),