US Open 2022: Will Serena Williams Retire With 24 Grand Slams?

The final grand slam event, and possibly the last major of six-time champion Serena Williams, will commence on the 29th of August. The 2022 US Open women’s singles draw showcases how fierce and competitive the tournament is going to be, especially for Emma Raducanu who faces a tough draw on her road to defending her title. 

We will see the likes of Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka, Aliza Cornet, defending champion Emma Raducanu and the world no. 1 Iga Swiatek at Flushing Meadows. Emma Raducanu has been seeded 11th while the last year’s runner-up Leylah Fernandez is the 14th seed. 

Iga Swiatek leads the first quarter of the draw as the first seed, but we cannot say that she has had the best warm-up matches during the tournaments leading up to the US Open. She starts her campaign against Jasmine Paolini who is renowned for her speed. However, Swiatek should be able to defeat her and face the 2017 US Open champion and the home favorite in Sloane Stephens in the second round.

Stephens might not be an easy opponent for Swiatek after their last encounter in Cincinnati whereby Swiatek won in straight sets. Stephens might be looking for some payback and will give Swiatek a run for her money.

Jelena Ostapenko is another big hitter that we need to look out for. She will face Qinwen Zheng in the first round, which should be an easy win for her. She will most likely face Anastasia Potapova in the second round and if she manages to reach the third round and beat Amanda Anisimova, the 16th seed will face Swiatek in the fourth round. Although Ostapenko hasn’t performed at her best in the last few tournaments, she has a stellar record against Swiatek in winning all of their previous meetings while only dropping a single set at the same time. 

The bottom half of the first quarter draw comprises of five qualifiers and includes the ninth seed Garbine Muguruza, who will begin her campaign against the Danish teen Clara Tauson. We might also see the world no. 8 Jessica Pegula in a third-round clash against Elise Mertens.

Although Mertens has won the previous meetings, Pegula has been performing exceptionally well this season in what might be the best season of her career so far. Mertens has the upper hand but Pegula will not go down without a fight.

Petra Kvitova has asserted her dominance against all the top-seeded players from the first quarter draw except for Swiatek. The Cincinnati Open runner-up will be looking to set a quarter-final showdown against Swiatek provided that she can come out on top in a potential fourth-round clash against Pegula. 

※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 27th, 06:00 p.m. (GMT)

Bwin LogoIga Swiatek enters the tournament as a heavy favorite at 5.50 via online bookie Bwin. Simona Halep will be looking to not only reach the finals of the US Open this year but achieve what she couldn’t do back in 2015 – win the grand slam. She has been priced at 9.00 to do so. She is followed by Cori Gauff and Caroline Garcia who are each priced at 17.00. Emma Raducanu and Aryna Sabalenka closely follow Gauff and Garcia at 19.00 each. 

The second quarter of the draw hosts two former US Open runner-ups and three former US Open champions. No doubt Emma Raducanu has her work cut out for her in probably the toughest quarter of the entire draw.

Fourth seed Paula Badosa hasn’t had much success at the US Open, but if she is able to turn the tide here, she may face three-time US Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka in the third round. Karolina Pliskova, runner-up of the 2016 US Open, will face Magda Linette in the opening round, which should be an easy win for her. If successful, Pliskova will face her fellow countrywoman in Marie Bouzkova in the next round, followed by 13th seed Belinda Bencic.

If we are lucky, we will get to see an exciting clash between Azarenka and Bencic. But that doesn’t even come close to the most interesting match of this year’s US Open. Emma Raducanu will want to defend her title and although she could easily manage to win her first two matches, we might get to see a third-round clash between Raducanu and the two-time US Open champion in Naomi Osaka. Both players have never faced each other, and although it will be a close call, as of this moment, Raducanu has a slight edge over Osaka. 

That’s not the end of the clashes that we will get to see in the second quarter. 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka and two-time US Open champion Venus Williams are in the same quarter and might face a series of tough matches if any of them are to make it to the quarterfinals.

Venus has not had a great year so far, and Rybakina is yet to show her dominant side on the hard court. Sabalenka, who finished in the last four in Cincinnati, might face Osaka in the second round. If her back injury doesn’t get the best of her, we should see Osaka come out on top against Sabalenka. 

Moving on to the third quarter of the draw and  we have Simona Halep who has made it to every grand slam final except for the US Open. The best she could do was the semi-finals in 2015, but she has an easy path in front of her – at least till the quarterfinals.

Madison Keys showed us some impressive tennis in Cincinnati where she was able to reach the semifinals and might set a third-round clash against her fellow countrywoman in Cori Gauff. Halep has defeated both Keys and Gauff in the past and it should be little to no trouble for her to do it again. 

The bottom half of the third quarter draw is led by the third seed Maria Sakkari, who has not shown consistent form since making the semifinals in Berlin in June. Bianca Andreescu, who won the 2019 US Open, will open her campaign against Harmony Tan but a win for her will set up a fierce second-round clash against 15th seed Beatriz Haddad-Maia – a match not to be missed. Cincinnati Open champion Caroline Garcia has been showing excellent form on the hard court and her eight-match winning streak is a testament to that fact. If she can maintain her form at Flushing Meadows, she should easily be able to reach the quarterfinals. 

The fourth quarter of the draw is quite unpredictable. The second seed Anett Kontaveit leads the quarter but her form has been below subpar. She was only able to win one match combined in Toronto and Cincinnati; clearly, she is yet to prove herself as a contender on the hard court.

Fifth seed and the Wimbledon 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur faces a similar situation where she has yet to find success on the hard court. She will face 31st seed Shelby Rogers, who has won six of her last eight hard court matches. Rogers has the clear edge over Jabeur when it come to this surface.

Leylah Fernandez proved herself to be a force to be reckoned with when she reached the US Open finals last year, but she might not enjoy the same success this year with the foot injury she has been carrying.

Serena Williams will appear in possibly the final major of her career and will start her campaign against Danka Kovinic. This should be an easy win for Williams, but she will set up a second-round clash against world no. 2 Anett Kontaveit if victorious.

Although Kontaveit hasn’t had much success on the hard court, she poses a threat to Williams who has won only one out of four matches so far. Daria Kasatkina is playing in the final in Granby after an unsuccessful campaign in Toronto and Cincinnati. She faces her first tough challenge in the US Open in the third round against compatriot Veronika Kudermetova, but Kasatkina has an upper edge as of now. A win for Kasatkina against Kudermetova would mean a fourth-round clash against Rogers. Rogers is in great form of late, and if the fatigue doesn’t get the best of Kasatkina, we are in for another fierce clash. 

The women’s draw has always surprised us and given us unexpected winners. This year, we might get to see a showdown between Iga Swiatek and Caroline Garcia in the final. Serena Williams is not having a great season so far, but she would be looking to go down with one last title to her name, which would also mean her equaling an all-time record of 24 grand slams by Margaret Court. Naomi Osaka, who has been struggling with her form of late, cannot be written off as a contender and is the dark horse of the tournament. 

The main draw matches will begin on the 29th of August and the final is set to take place on the 10th of September. The winner will take home prize money of $2.6 million and 1000 ranking points.

Projected Semi-finals:
Iga Swiatek vs. Emma Raducanu
Simona Halep vs. Daria Kasatkina

Projected Finals: 
Iga Swiatek vs. Simona Halep

Projected Winner: 
Simona Halep

Where to watch?
UK: Amazon Prime Video
USA: Tennis Channel
India: Discovery
Canada: TSN

You can also watch the live coverage of every match on Tennis TV.

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