See the words of encouragement COCO GAUFF mother, Candi, gave to her ahead of the 2024 US Open that have left fans sobber and with teary eyes

Tennis World USA offers an analysis of the women’s draw: many contenders for a single throne.

Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Qinwen Zheng, Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, Barbora Krejcikova: many contenders, but only one of them will be the next queen of the US Open.

What will the last Slam tournament of the season have in store for the women’s Tour? The curtain is about to rise definitively on the highly anticipated event at Flushing Meadows. With the main draw, it is obviously clear who can have a better path or not and who, consequently, is the favorite for the final victory.

WTA No.1 Iga Swiatek finds herself on the path of the Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who could face her in the third round. Danielle Collins is also in the top-half of the draw. But the favorite for the final victory remains, in my opinion, the no. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka. Champion in Cincinnati, the Belarusian has a great opportunity to aspire to the final goal on the New York hard-courts. For her playing style, surface and physical shape, Sabalenka is the natural favorite for the final victory.

Jasmine Paolini, number 5 in the world, was very unlucky in the draw and will have to prepare for a path full of pitfalls, starting from her debut: she will be opposed to the Canadian Bianca Andreescu, former winner of the tournament in 2019. Following her, the Egyptian Sherif or the former world number 1 Karolina Pliskova (finalist in 2016). In the third round she could meet Yulia Putinseva, who recently beat Swiatek (at Wimbledon) and Coco Gauff (in Cincinnati), or the Czech Linda Noskova.

In the round of 16, on paper, Jelena Ostapenko or Leylah Fernandez, while in the quarterfinals the number 4 Elena Rybakina could await her. In the semifinals the Polish number one. In short, a very tortuous adventure.

Can Coco Gauff defend her title? It won’t be easy for the American, especially after the summer disappointments, between Wimbledon, Paris Olympics and the first tournaments on the North American hard-courts. Elena Rybakina is an unknown, due to her physical condition. Physical problems have tormented her during the year. Could New York be the arena of her rebirth?

Qinwen Zheng, Olympic champion and finalist at the Australian Open, is one of the possible surprises: her draw can help her reach an incredible new goal. Iga Swiatek’s path, tough but not impossible: the WTA No.1 seems however a step below Sabalenka, at this stage and on this playing surface. So the outsiders who can stand out (also thanks to the support of the crowd and knowledge of the surface) are obviously Danielle Collins and Jessica Pegula.