After some shocking upsets in the men's singles third round, the fans witnessed all top three seeds of women's singles reaching the round of 16 at the US Open 2024 on Sunday, September 1. Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff all made the pre-quarters to heat up the title race for the last grand slam title in New York.
The world no.1 Iga Swiatek registered another easy win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round. She suffered early setbacks at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics and will be looking to end the 2024 season with her sixth career major.
The 2022 US Open champions will be facing the 16th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in her next match. She is also projected to face the world no.6 Jessica Pegula in the biggest challenge to her second semi-final in Queens.
Aryna Sabalenka is tipped as the top contender ahead of Swiatek and Gauff after her success at the Cincinnati Open 2024. Sabalenka escaped an upset in the third round after losing her first set against Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia. She made a strong comeback to take the match by 6-2, 1-6, 1-2 and kept her hopes alive for the maiden US Open 2024.
The world no.1 Sabalenka started the 2024 season with her second Australian Open 2024 title but failed to reach beyond the quarter-finals in the next two majors. She did not participate in the Paris Olympics but won the Cincinnati Open to boost her title bid for the US Open title.
Sabalenka was left heartbroken by Coco Gauff in the 2023 US Open final despite winning the opening set. Gauff claimed her maiden grand slam title and has been a strong contender to defend it in the coming days. The American youngster, ranked 3rd in WTA, defeated Elina Svitolina in the third round and is set to face the world no.12 Emma Navarro in the all-American pre-quarterfinal.
However, Swiatek, Sabalenka and Gauff all find a tough road to glory as Quinwen Zheng, the world no.7 and gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, Jasmine Paolini, the finalists at Wimbledon and French Open 2024, and the home favourite Jessica Pegula all have made the fourth round at the US Open 2024.
