US Open 2023: 5 favorites for the women's singles title ft. Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek

The dust has settled on the field for the final Slam of the season—the 2023 US Open, the draw for which was announced on Thursday. Defending champion and World No. 1 Iga Swiatek leads the women's draw this year, with Aryna Sabalenka sitting across at the other end.

The draw also features several top names, including former winners Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, and Bianca Andreescu. Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova also plays her first Major since London.

With all these players and a host of other hopefuls set to take court starting Monday, let's take a look at some of the obvious contenders likely to walk away with the trophy at the end of the fortnight:

#5 Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina's game is built around her big serve and aggressive mindset, a style that can reap rich dividends on the quick New York courts.

The Kazakh comes into the tournament as a leader in most service stats for the 2023 season. At 319, she has hit the most aces and won the highest 74.2% of points behind her first serve.

The numbers bode well for Rybakina, who looked solid during her run to the semifinals in Toronto earlier this month. The things that aren't working in Rybakina's favor are her poor 3-4 record at the Slam and concerns about match fitness.

She retired from her match against Jasmine Paolini in Cincinnati and arrives in New York with no pedigree at the Slam. That said, when you boast of an arsenal as strong as the Kazakh, things can change quickly.

#4 Coco Gauff

If recent form is an indicator of what's to be expected at the US Open, we might as well hand the trophy over to Coco Gauff.

The young home hope lifted the biggest trophy of her career in Washington last month, only to top it off with a run to the title in Cincinnati last week. She has wins over nearly half the top-10 opposition—Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula—in the last six weeks to show for it.

Ground realities, however, are not that straightforward. Gauff has spoken at length about her instinct to fall back into defense when faced with tough situations, and while she has embarked on a path to change that, shedding your instincts takes time.

And time is one luxury that the lightning-quick conditions do not afford any player. Gauff remains a contender for the US Open title, but she is also the player who could be easily hit off the court if pitted against a big ball-striker on one of their good days.

#3 Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka may have reached the pinnacle of the sport in Melbourne, but it was here in New York that her ascent began 12 months ago. Had it not been for an insired Ons Jabeur, the Belarusian may have been a Slam winner sooner.

After going through a rough patch with her serve last year, Sabalenka went back to the drawing board in the offseason.

The fact that she is No. 1 in service games won stat (20-plus matches) for the season—with an impressive 82.3% score—less than a year after averaging over a dozen double faults a match is a testament to her adaptability.

That, added to her hammerthrow groundstrokes that are pure joy on the hardcourts, makes her an intimidating opponent for anyone across the net.

#2 Ons Jabeur

Try and try again until you succeed. The motto would be one that Ons Jabeur would be repeating in her mind while stepping out on a Grand Slam stage.

The Tunisian, who contested three Major finals in the last two years, remained positive after the Wimbledon heartbreak that Grand Slam success would come her way. And when you have an all-court game like hers and footspeed to back that up, it makes it hard to disagree with her.

Jabeur took some extra time off after Wimbledon, possibly to collect all her thoughts and emotions, and has played at only one event since.

There's only so much that one can read into her quarterfinal run at Cincinnati, but with a solid 12-4 win-loss record at the US Open over the last four years backing her, the Tunisian may look as big a contender as ever.

#1 Iga Swiatek (Defending US Open champion)

While most players on the list have served well for most of the 2023 season, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek stands out for having excelled on both serve and return.

The Pole sits atop the leaderboard in terms of overall service points won (20 or more matches) at 64.3%. She, meanwhile, is also second in terms of return points won, being bested only by Lesia Tsurenko.

This newfound aggression behind her return has been key to Swiatek's success outside of clay, including her win here at the US Open.

Her unwillingness to take the ball suffocates her opponents, who have very little time to react. The window is even shorter when the conditions are lightning quick, as is the case at the US Open.

Her recent losses to Gauff and Jessica Pegula would have only fueled Swiatek's hunger to return with a bang, and what better stage to do it on than the season's closing Grand Slam.