After an overwhelmingly impressive season for the Americans overall, expectations and hopes were sky-high for the year’s final major.
Four different American women had reached the previous four major finals, and several American men had breakthrough summers. It felt like the US Open was shaping up to be something special. Historic, even.
But it hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
On just the second day of the tournament, reigning Australian Open champion and sixth-seeded Madison Keys was handed a shocking upset by Renata Zarazua. On Friday, within just moments of one another, No. 6 seed Ben Shelton, who won the Canadian Open earlier this month, retired with a shoulder injury in his third-round match, and two-time tournament semifinalist Frances Tiafoe, the No. 17 seed, was defeated in straight sets by Jan-Lennard Struff. By the end of the Round of 32, No. 10 seed Emma Navarro and No. 14 seed Tommy Paul had also been sent packing.
Still, even with the surprising early exits, six American contenders remain in the main draw. Coco Gauff was the last American to win the singles title (2023), and Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz both reached the final last year. All have advanced to the second week.
As has been well documented and discussed, no American man has won a major title — anywhere — since Andy Roddick won the US Open title in 2003. Will Fritz, the lone American man, be the one to finally win again? Will one of the five remaining women continue the country’s hot streak? We’ll find out soon enough.
Here are the Americans remaining in the draw, and how they got here.
No. 3 Coco Gauff
Who she has beaten so far: Ajla Tomljanovic, Donna Vekic, No. 28 Magdalena Frech
Up next: No. 23 Naomi Osaka
We’re only just getting to the second week in New York, but it has already been one heck of a tournament for Gauff.
Following her second major title at the French Open in June, the 21-year-old Gauff had a challenging summer, including a first-round loss at Wimbledon and an oft-inconsistent serve that became an increasing liability in matches. She recorded 23 double faults — the most in a WTA match over the past six years — in a match at the Canadian Open, and had 42 across three matches in Montreal.
With only days to go before the start of the main draw at the US Open, Gauff made the unorthodox move to fire one of her coaches, Matt Daly, and bring in Gavin MacMillan, a biomechanics expert who notably helped Aryna Sabalenka overcome her serving woes in 2022. The two, along with her longtime coach Jean-Christophe Faurel, immediately got to work on the daunting task of overhauling her service motion.
Her first two matches showed it was a work in progress, as she battled with her opponents, double faults and her emotions. Her first match against Tomljanovic lasted nearly three hours. Against Vekic in the second round, she was reduced to tears following a particularly dismal service game. But in both matches, even as she struggled, she found a way to win.
On Saturday against Frech, she looked far more in control — of everything — and recorded her most straightforward and dominant win of the tournament thus far with a 6-3, 6-1 final score. She had just four double faults on the day and won seven of her eight games on serve. Gauff, who reached her 16th Round of 16 at a Slam, couldn’t hide her relief after the match.
“It’s been an emotional week … but I think I needed those tough moments to be able to move forward,” Gauff said. “I was putting so much pressure on myself, but I’m really out here just trying to enjoy it and not focus so much on results, but the process, and I think today showed that I was really having fun out there.”
Gauff will next take on Osaka, the resurgent four-time major champion, in what will surely be a must-watch event. The two first played one another in 2019 at the US Open in a match that was equally hyped but ultimately a lopsided (although memorable) encounter, with Osaka earning the victory. Since then, Gauff has won three of their past four meetings, although their last match at the 2024 China Open ended by retirement because of injury before the start of the deciding set.
As Osaka hadn’t yet finished her third-round match on Saturday when Gauff spoke to the media, she wasn’t entirely sure if they would play — but was clearly excited by the possibility.
“Naomi and I, we aren’t super close or anything, but we’re definitely friendly with each other,” Gauff said. “I support her from afar in all the things that she’s done on and off the court. If I were to play her, I’m imagining we would probably be on Ashe and at night. I’m just assuming. It would be a cool kind of déjà vu type of situation, but hopefully it will be a different result.”
No. 4 Taylor Fritz
Who he has beaten so far: Emilio Nava, Lloyd Harris, Jerome Kym
Up next: No. 21 Tomas Machac
The 27-year-old Fritz has long been one of the faces of American men’s tennis and one of its best hopes for snapping the Slam drought. He came pretty close to doing that a year ago in New York, before falling to Jannik Sinner in the final.
But since his runner-up finish in 2024, he reached the final at the year-end ATP Finals and has been a mainstay in the top five in the rankings. During the grass-court season, he won two titles and reached the semifinals for the first time at Wimbledon. His hard-court season hasn’t been nearly as successful so far, but he made the final four at the Canadian Open and arrived to the year’s final major brimming with confidence.
Fritz cruised in his opening-round match but has been challenged since. Playing all of his matches so far on Louis Armstrong, including his upcoming fourth-round clash on Sunday, Fritz dropped the first set against Harris and lost the second set to Kym in a tiebreak. He won both in four sets. Fritz later told reporters losing the tiebreaker against Kym fueled him the rest of the match.
“When something like that happens, [I think to myself] what else are you going to do? Are you going to kind of knock it over and whine about it and think about it and then lose the match? You’re going to feel worse,” Fritz said. “The only thing I can do to make myself not feel like such a loser after that tiebreaker is just go win the match.”
Fritz won’t be able to afford any lapses in Sunday’s match against Machac. The two have played twice before, with Fritz winning both. However, in their most recent meeting in the semifinals at the season-opening United Cup, Fritz was down a set and about to serve in hopes of forcing a decider before Machac retired from the match because of cramping. So, Fritz will have to be ready, as anything is possible when the stakes are even higher.
If Fritz were to win on Sunday, he could have his toughest test of the tournament in the quarterfinals against 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic.
No. 4 Jessica Pegula
Players she has beaten so far: Mayar Sherif, Anna Blinkova, Victoria Azarenka
Up next: Ann Li
After reaching the first major title of her career last year at the US Open, hopes were high for the 31-year-old Pegula at the start of the new season. But she has been unable to replicate that success at the year’s first three Slams — losing in the third round at the Australian Open, the fourth round at the French Open and suffering a stunning first-round upset at Wimbledon.
But now, back in New York, Pegula looks like she hasn’t missed a beat and has rediscovered her dominant form.
After reaching the semifinals in the mixed doubles event, Pegula opened her 2025 singles campaign with a bagel set against Sherif. Through her first three matches, she has yet to drop a set and hasn’t given up more than six games in a match. She had her toughest battle of the tournament so far against Azarenka, a two-time major champion and former world No. 1, on Friday. After largely cruising in the first set against Azarenka, who was visibly struggling with a leg injury, a far more competitive second set ensued. As Azarenka raised her level, Pegula was forced to do the same — but did enough for the 6-1, 7-5 victory.
“I just tried to focus on going back to my strategy, things that went well in the first set,” Pegula said after the match about how she recovered in the second set. “I thought I moved and scrambled really well, I wanted to make the match physical. My results haven’t been too amazing the last couple of months, so to be able to turn it around was awesome.”
Pegula will next take on fellow American Ann Li on Sunday. They have met twice before on tour. Li won their first clash in the semifinals at Lexington, all the way back in 2018, but Pegula won their most recent meeting in the second round at Roland Garros earlier this season.
Ann Li
Players she has beaten so far: Rebecca Sramkova, No. 16 Belinda Bencic, Priscilla Hon
Up next: No. 4 Jessica Pegula
The 25-year-old Li entered the US Open ranked No. 58 in the world and had never advanced past the third round at a major. She hadn’t won a match in the main draw at the US Open since 2020.
So, in short, it seemed unlikely Li would reach the second week in New York at the start of the tournament.
But what a difference a week makes.
The Pennsylvania native reached the final in the US Open warmup event in Cleveland just days before the main draw began — and has shown no signs of slowing down. Or any inexperience or self-doubt. After dropping her opening set of the tournament, Li hasn’t lost one since. Against Bencic, who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon earlier this summer, Li was nearly flawless at the match’s start and took control early. She managed to hold off Bencic’s attempts at a comeback for an impressive 6-3, 6-3 win.
On Friday, playing against Hon, Li was steadier and more consistent than her even-less-experienced opponent and held her nerve at the most crucial moments in a match that had multiple momentum shifts and marathon games. Having held a 5-2 lead in the opening set, Hon then fought back to win the next three games to level. But Li was undaunted. She won the set and was dominant in the second set for a 7-5, 6-3 victory. Li is now expected to reach a career-high ranking of No. 44 after advancing to the fourth round.
If she were to defeat Pegula on Sunday, she would likely rise to around No. 36. During her post-match interview on the court at Court 17 on Friday, she said it was “super exciting” to have the chance to face Pegula, especially on Ashe.
“To be in the fourth round, first time, here in New York, my home Slam, is unbelievable,” Li said. “I’m just trying to take it match by match and enjoy the moment, so nothing to lose from here.”
No. 8 Amanda Anisimova
Who she has beaten so far: Kimberly Birrell, Maya Joint, Jaqueline Cristian
Up next: No. 18 Beatriz Haddad Maia
It’s been a meteoric season for Anisimova, who celebrates her 24th birthday on Sunday.
After achieving success early in her career, including the US Open junior title (beating Gauff in the final) and reaching the semifinals at the French Open as a 17-year-old in 2019, Anisimova suffered a number of setbacks, on and off the court. In 2023, she announced she would be taking an indefinite break from tennis, citing burnout.
She returned at the start of 2024 and immediately proved she was back by reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open. And this year has been even more impressive. Anisimova won the biggest title of her career at the 1000-level Qatar Open in February and then reached her first major final at Wimbledon in July. She cracked the top 10 of the rankings for the first time, peaking at No. 7.
And now at the US Open, she has reached the fourth round for the first time. In her first two rounds, she didn’t drop a set, including over rising star Joint in the second round. She was given a more challenging test on Saturday by Cristian but ultimately found a way to win in the decider. Earlier in the week, Anisimova told reporters she was relishing the chance to play in front of a home crowd and was hoping to build off what she started at Wimbledon.
“I was playing some great tennis there, and there were a lot of tough matches that I got through and a very tough battle,” Anisimova said. “So I think just taking certain moments from Wimbledon into here is going to be super important. There were a lot of times where I dug really deep, and I think that’s going to be really important for me here.”
Anisimova will next take on Haddad Maia, who played in a very late night match on Saturday, with a chance for Anisimova to reach her first major hard-court quarterfinal. Anisimova has won two of their three career meetings, but Haddad Maia was victorious in their last outing at Adelaide in 2023.
Who she has beaten so far: Antonia Ruzic, No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko, No. 5 Mirra Andreeva
Up next: Barbora Krejcíkova
As the current world No. 1 in doubles and a two-time major doubles champion, including at this year’s Australian Open, it feels disingenuous to call Townsend the breakout star of the tournament, but she has undoubtedly introduced herself to the world this week with her fearless play and incredible poise and demeanor.
Following her 7-5, 6-1 second-round victory against 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko, Ostapenko aggressively confronted Townsend, saying she had “no class” and “no education” due to her not apologizing for a net cord earlier in the match. The moment went viral, and Townsend was widely praised for how she reacted at the time, and later when speaking about it to reporters. (Ostapenko later apologized.)
Two days after the incident, Townsend was tasked with taking on Andreeva, the teenage phenom, in a night match on Ashe. With perhaps more eyes on her than ever, and with the New York crowd firmly behind her, Townsend again let her racket do the talking. She more than met the moment and recorded a stunning 7-5, 6-2 victory.
“Damn this feels good,” Townsend said to the crowd after securing the win. “All I’m going to say is, ‘Welcome to the show.'”
“It’s bigger than me,” she said later in the interview. “It’s about the representation. It’s about being bold and being able to show up as yourself.”
Having previously reached the fourth round at the 2019 US Open, with a run that included an upset victory over No. 4 seed Simona Halep in a second-round thriller, the 29-year-old Townsend will now have a chance at a major quarterfinal for the first time in her career when she takes on Krejcíkova, a two-time Slam champion, on Sunday. Krejcíkova won their lone previous singles meeting, eight years ago in an ITF event, but they are more familiar with one another in doubles, including during the 2022 US Open final. Townsend will also have some extra crowd support for the match as she said her 4-year-old son Adyn would be in attendance.
But no matter what happens, Townsend, who advanced to the third round in doubles on Saturday, knows this tournament has been one to remember.
“I just have gotten so much love and support on a personal level from fans and people who are just really supporting and rocking with me,” Townsend told reporters in the early morning hours on Saturday. “I took that and I’m, like, ‘Wow, this is amazing …’
“I think that’s the cool thing, because I’m just truly showing up as myself, and I think people see that and I think it’s cool they like what I see. I think I’m pretty cool. I think I’m funny. I think that’s all that matters. So, yeah, it’s cool, but I’m enjoying the journey, enjoying the ride. It’s not over yet.”
