By Ros Satar
- Top Seeds: Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens, Angelique Kerber
- Defending Champion: Sloane Stephens
- All four the four reigning Slam champions occupy the top four spots
- British Interest: Johanna Konta
- CLICK our featured players for stats from TennisAbstract
NEW YORK, USA – The top four seeds hold the last four Slam titles between them, but will any of them be lifting the trophy at the end?
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[1] Simona Halep
In terms of unlocking achievements, she snared the World No. 1 spot, and then finally won her first Slam, so what next for Halep? Winning more slams, of course! She won in Montreal and reached the final in Cincinnati before wisely pulling out of New Haven.
The fourth round could see double trouble for Halep – either of the Williams sisters are possible as Serena Williams’ bump in the seedings sets her up with sister Venus Williams in the third round.
Halep’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: Kaia Kanepi
- R2: Dalia Jakupovic
- R3: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [27]
- R4: Venus Williams [16]
- QF: Karolina Pliskova [8]
- SF: Sloane Stephens [3]
- F: Caroline Wozniacki [2]
[2] Caroline Wozniacki
The reigning Australian Open champion has not been able to translate her hard-court success at the beginning of the year to the US summer schedule. Injury has seen her ousted in the two opening rounds in Montreal and Cincinnati, including retiring to the eventual champion Kiki Bertens in her opener.
Wozniacki’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: Samantha Stosur
- R2: Lesia Tsurenko
- R3: Anett Kontaveit [28]
- R4: Kiki Bertens [13]
- QF: Petra Kvitova [5]
- SF: Angelique Kerber [4]
- F: Simona Halep [1]
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[3] Sloane Stephens
If anyone thought that Stephens would fade into obscurity after winning her first Slam, her Miami title, and then reaching the Roland Garros final showed that she has emerged as a worthy contender to defend her title.
A title defence first out the gate might be tough, not that Stephens will give any sign of caring out all, but it will hurt if she can’t win the title back to back. Elise Mertens is her first challenge as head to heads go, but she ought to look to be still standing into the second week.
Stephens’ Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: Evgeniya Rodina
- R2: Qualifier
- R3: Daria Gavrilova [25]
- R4: Elise Mertens [15]
- QF: Elina Svitolina [7]
- SF: Simona Halep [1]
- F: Caroline Wozniacki [2]
[4] Angelique Kerber
While her hard court summer has been a little short lived, her win at Wimbledon has seen her launch herself back up the rankings.
Cornet gave Kerber the first pause for thought in her first match back after winning Wimbledon, and Madison Keys is defending final points. On paper, it could be a second US Open final for the German, but with a losing head to head against World No. 1 Halep, not to mention still one of the matches of the year together at the Australian Open, we could be in for a real treat of a final if all seedings come to pass.
Kerber’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: Margarita Gasparyan
- R2: Alizé Cornet
- R3: Dominika Cibulkova [29]
- R4: Madison Keys [14]
- QF: Caroline Garcia [6]
- SF: Caroline Wozniacki [2]
- F: Simona Halep [1]
The US Open takes place between 27 August and 9 September.
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