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Past US Open champs Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Venus Williams highlight the field
A look at some of the women to watch at the U.S. Open, which starts Sunday, with money-line odds via BetMGM Sportsbook: Aryna Sabalenka Ranked: 1 Career-Best Ranking: 1 Country: Belarus Age: 27 2025 Record: 50-10 2025 Titles: 3 Career Titles: 20 Grand Slam Titles: 3 — U.S. Open (1: 2024), Australian Open (2: 2023, 2024) Last 5 U.S. Opens: 2024-Won Championship, 2023-Runner-Up, 2022-Lost in Semifinals, 2021-SF, 2020-2nd Round Aces: Was last year's champion in New York. ... Began her U.S. Open career by going 5-3 in her first three trips and is 23-3 since then, getting to the past two finals and the semifinals the two years before that. ... Was the runner-up at each of this season's first two Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian Open and French Open, then bowed out at Wimbledon in the semifinals. ... Replaced Iga Swiatek at No. 1 late last season. She Said It: 'I mean, I know that I have to go for it. That's the only way it works for me, because every time I'm trying to play safer ... I stop my arms, and the ball flies in the stands." Read All About It: Aryna Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula in the 2024 U.S. Open final Odds Are: +300 Iga Swiatek Ranked: 2 Career-Best Ranking: 1 Country: Poland Age: 24 2025 Record: 49-12 2025 Titles: 2 Career Titles: 24 Grand Slam Titles: 6 — U.S. Open (1: 2022), French Open (4: 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024), Wimbledon (1: 2025) Last 5 U.S. Opens: 2024-QF, 2023-4th, 2022-W, 2021-4th, 2020-3rd Aces: Has won two of her past three tournaments after failing to reach a final anywhere for more than a year and returned to No. 2 in the rankings this week after sliding as low as No. 8. ... Those two recent titles came on fast surfaces: on grass at Wimbledon — where she improved to 6-0 in Grand Slam finals by winning there for the first time — and on hard courts at the Cincinnati Open on Monday. ... Her 11 WTA 1000 titles rank second to Serena Williams' 13 since 2009. She Said It: 'I came back to being my old kind of self." Read All About It: Iga Swiatek won Wimbledon after a difficult year Odds Are: +275 Coco Gauff Ranked: 3 Career-Best Ranking: 2 Country: United States Age: 21 2025 Record: 35-12 2025 Titles: 1 Career Titles: 10 Grand Slam Titles: 2 — U.S. Open (2023), French Open (2025) Last 5 U.S. Opens: 2024-4th, 2023-W, 2022-QF, 2021-2nd, 2020-1st Aces: Earned her second Grand Slam title at the French Open on red clay. The first came at the U.S. Open in 2023 while she was still a teenager. ... Last year's title defense at Flushing Meadows ended with a fourth-round loss to American Emma Navarro; Gauff double-faulted 19 times in that defeat. ... Gauff is coming off a first-round exit at Wimbledon in the last major. She Said It: 'I definitely learned a lot of what I would and would not do again." Read All About It: Coco Gauff went from French Open champion to a quick Wimbledon exit Odds Are: +600 Jessica Pegula Ranked: 4 Career-Best Ranking: 3 Country: United States Age: 31 2025 Record: 37-16 2025 Titles: 3 Career Titles: 9 Grand Slam Titles: Zero — Best: Runner-Up, U.S. Open (2024) Last 5 US Opens: 2024-Runner-Up, 2023-4th, 2022-QF, 2021-3rd, 2020-3rd Aces: Had been 0-6 for her career in Grand Slam quarterfinals until a year ago at the U.S. Open, where she upset Swiatek at that stage en route to reaching her first major final. ... Won a title on every surface in 2025: hard, clay and grass courts. ... Has lost four of her past six matches. She Said It: 'I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy, which I don't like." Read All About It: Jessica Pegula beat Iga Swiatek at the 2024 U.S. Open Odds Are: +1800 Madison Keys Ranked: 6 Career-Best Ranking: 5 Country: United States Age: 30 2025 Record: 37-12 2025 Titles: 2 Career Titles: 10 Grand Slam Titles: 1 — Australian Open (2025) Last 5 US Opens: 2024-3rd, 2023-SF, 2022-3rd, 2021-1st, 2020-3rd Aces: Captured her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, upsetting Swiatek in the semifinals and Sabalenka in the final. ... Best career moments have come on hard courts, including a runner-up showing at the U.S. Open in 2017 and reaching the semifinals at Flushing Meadows two other times, in 2018 and 2023. She Said It: 'I went after it, every single point. And if I missed it and I just didn't execute, I could live with that." Read All About It: Madison Keys told herself to be brave on the way to winning the Australian Open Odds Are: +1200 Venus Williams Ranked: 610 Career-Best Ranking: 1 Country: United States Age: 45 2025 Record: 1-2 2025 Titles: Zero Career Titles: 49 Grand Slam Titles: 7 — U.S. Open (2: 2000, 2001), Wimbledon (5: 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008) Last 5 U.S. Opens: 2024-Did Not Play, 2023-1st, 2022-1st, 2021-DNP, 2020-1st Aces: Hasn't played at a Grand Slam tournament since the U.S. Open two years ago. ... After 16 months away from the tour, Williams returned to action in July at Washington, winning one match in singles and one in doubles. ... She will be the oldest player to compete in singles at Flushing Meadows since 1981. She Said It: "Just to be here at all is really a blessing, and then to play well is just another blessing." Read All About It: A look at Venus Williams' career and comeback Odds Are: Not listed ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: More AP tennis:
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
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Women are flocking to DC for a historic pro baseball tryout. Here are some players to know
Hundreds of women will flock to Washington on Friday to take their first swings at turning pro baseball dreams into reality. Some at the historic tryout will be seasoned veterans and trailblazers in the women's game. Plenty others are beginners chasing a shot at the pros. They'll meet on the same field in a camp organized by the Women's Pro Baseball League. Set to debut next year, the league is holding the first pro women's baseball tryouts in more than 80 years this weekend in partnership with Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. The U.S. hasn't had a pro women's league since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — the one immortalized in 'A League of Their Own' — dissolved in 1954. Players will take part in drill-focused sessions, athletic performance testing and player evaluations at the Nationals' Youth Baseball Academy over the first three days, and the showcase will culminate in a live game at Nationals Park on Aug. 25. In the end, 150 players will advance to the league's inaugural draft in October. For co-founder Justine Siegal, the tryouts mark a crucial step in creating a true arena for female baseball players to compete against one another, which was the driving force behind her vision for the league. 'I didn't get to grow up and play girls baseball. I had to play baseball with the boys," said Siegal, the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015. 'We have players who have been waiting a lifetime for an opportunity not to just have a chance to try out for a professional women's baseball league, but to be seen and to be given a chance. 'It's very important to us that women know that we see them.' More than 600 players registered for the four-day camp. Here are five notable competitors to keep an eye on: Mo'ne Davis: right-handed pitcher, outfielder At 13, Davis became the first girl to earn a win — and pitch a shutout — in the Little League World Series. She drew national attention and became an instant celebrity, gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated and earning AP Female Athlete of the Year honors in 2014. Davis later played softball at Hampton University, where she last played competitively in 2020 before graduating in 2023. With few professional baseball avenues available, she sometimes wondered if her baseball career had ended. 'A lot of times I've talked to people in school,' Davis told The Associated Press, "and ... they just kind of assume that I have everything planned out in life, which isn't true at all.' Davis, now 24, has provided commentary on ESPN for Little League games but recently has explored other career options, including flag football, basketball and content creation. She hopes the next chapter of her career begins with the WPBL, where she will try out as a pitcher, shortstop and center fielder. 'I'm excited to get out there with all the women,' Davis said. 'Very excited just to play with each other, to share the field, to bring our love to each other and also to the fans watching.' Kelsie Whitmore: pitcher, outfielder Whitmore became the first female player in an MLB-partnered league when she suited up for the Staten Island FerryHawks in the Atlantic League in 2022. She first played on the U.S. women's national baseball team as a 14-year-old, helping earn a silver medal at the 2014 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women's World Cup and gold at the 2015 Pan American games. The 27-year-old's pursuit of a pro baseball career has largely meant finding opportunities to compete alongside men. In 2016, she and Stacy Piagno played for the Sonoma Stompers of the independent Pacific Association, and last year, she became the first woman to play for the Pioneer League with the Oakland Ballers. Whitmore debuted with the barnstorming squad Savannah Bananas earlier this month. Ayami Sato, right-handed pitcher Sato, 35, has led the Japan national team to six women's baseball World Cup championships and is widely considered one of the best female pitchers ever, with a nearly 80 mph fastball and a precise curveball. A three-time MVP, Sato earlier this year debuted for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Canada's Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) as the first woman to play professional men's baseball in Canada. Sato also grew up playing baseball alongside or against boys — but longed for a career on the mound even when she played girls basketball in middle school. Now, she's a special advisor to the WPBL and was featured in the baseball documentary 'See Her Be Her,' which chronicled the paths of seven female baseball players from around the world. Alli Schroder, right-handed pitcher Schroder, a right-handed pitcher, has played for Canada's national team since 2018. She debuted for the team at 16, helping Canada win bronze in the 2018 World Cup. In 2021, Schroder became the first woman to play in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference at Vancouver Island University. She also works grueling two-week stretches fighting major wildfires. From her career as a firefighter, she deals with chronically sore shoulders and knees that could shorten her playing career, and the fingers on her non-throwing, left hand were injured to the point that she once worried whether she could even swing a bat. 'There's a lot more at stake on the fire line than there is in a big game," Schroder told the AP last year, "and I think that's something that I've really been able to use to calm myself down on the baseball field in big situations.' Kylee Lahners, third base Lahners played softball at the University of Washington from 2012 to 2015, helping the Huskies reach third place in the 2013 Women's College World Series and finishing her college career fourth in school history in home runs and walks. Now 32, Lahners has played third base for the U.S. national team since 2018 and was a part of the squad's silver-medal run in the World Cup last year. ___ AP MLB:
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15 minutes ago
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Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, aka Sincaraz, rule men's tennis as the 2025 US Open arrives
NEW YORK (AP) — OK, sure, maybe it wouldn't be rational to say there's no point in actually holding the full U.S. Open and instead just fast-forwarding to the inevitable matchup for the men's championship between Jannik Sinner — assuming he's healthy — and Carlos Alcaraz on Sept. 7. Seems reasonable, though. 'We know,' Novak Djokovic acknowledged, 'they're the dominant force right now.' When singles action begins Sunday at Flushing Meadows, a change from the usual Monday start, there are cases to be made for various players to make their way to the women's final. The top three in the rankings — No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Iga Swiatek and No. 3 Coco Gauff — have won the past three U.S. Open titles, for example. Other past major champions such as Naomi Osaka or Elena Rybakina have performed well lately; maybe a new face will emerge. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have won the last 7 Grand Slam titles When it comes to the men, there really is just one name that matters in this post-Big Three era, and that name is 'Sincaraz,' the silly, made-up, 'Fedal'-style mashup of the guys who are ranked No. 1 (Sinner) and No. 2 (Alcaraz) and have claimed seven Grand Slam trophies in a row and nine of the last 12. Djokovic took the other three in that span. There is nothing quite like it in the women's game at the moment. The past five Slams were won by five players: Swiatek (Wimbledon in July), Gauff (French Open in June), Madison Keys (Australian Open in January), Sabalenka (last year's U.S. Open) and Barbora Krejcikova (last year's Wimbledon). 'Sincaraz' is a cut above as the US Open starts 'Sinner and Alcaraz,' said Marcos Giron, an American who has been ranked 37th and faced both, "are bringing a ridiculous level, week in and week out." Look at the ATP rankings, which either could lead after the U.S. Open. Look at the titles. Look at the past two Grand Slam finals, with Alcaraz erasing a two-set deficit and saving three championship points to win the French Open in June, before Sinner won in four sets at Wimbledon in July. Look at the most recent Masters 1000 tournament, the Cincinnati Open, where Sinner didn't drop a set en route to Monday's final but quit because he was feeling ill, ceding the trophy to Alcaraz. That ended Sinner's 26-match winning streak on hard courts; Alcaraz was responsible for the previous defeat, too. Alcaraz collected his tour-leading sixth trophy this season and has won 39 of his most recent 41 contests. Since Sinner returned in May from a three-month doping ban, Cincinnati was the fourth event both entered — and they met to decide the title in all four. What makes No. 1 Sinner and No. 2 Alcaraz so good? They hit the ball as hard as anyone. Sinner's returns rival Djokovic's for best in the game. Alcaraz's drop shots are unrivaled. The athleticism displayed by both is remarkable. Alcaraz might be the fastest guy around. Sinner's long limbs reach everything. What sets them apart from others? 'Their confidence. Their ball-striking. Their movement is basically perfect,' said Sam Querrey, a former player who made it to Wimbledon's semifinals and the U.S. Open's quarterfinals. 'It seems like they hit the ball with just a little extra force when they need to.' It leaves other elite players such as Ben Shelton, the 22-year-old American who is ranked No. 6, so-close-yet-so-far at majors. Shelton's 2025 Grand Slam resume includes losses to Sinner at the Australian Open, to Alcaraz at the French Open and to Sinner at Wimbledon. 'Frustrating,' Shelton said. 'Two very different players and challenges.' How big a deal is the Alcaraz vs. Sinner rivalry heading to the US Open? The sample size is, admittedly, small, but these two are producing the sort of riveting points and thrill-a-minute matches that Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal, or Nadal vs. Djokovic, used to. 'The rivalry is real. It's there,' said Darren Cahill, one of Sinner's two coaches. 'And hopefully it's going to be there and real for the next 10 or 12 years.' Not sure? Head to YouTube and check out Alcaraz vs. Sinner, whether at Roland-Garros this year or at the U.S. Open in 2022 or pretty much any of their 14 showdowns ( Alcaraz leads 9-5 ). 'You have to earn every point, every game. He makes you suffer (from) the first point of the match until the last ball,' said Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain. 'It's really tough to find holes in his game.' Sinner's take? 'We try,' the 24-year-old from Italy said of their matchups, 'to push ourselves to the limits." ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: More AP tennis:
