Iga Swiatek has one threat in particular at the US Open according to former No. 1 Chris Evert.
Swiatek is the defending champion in New York and will enter the final Grand Slam of the year as the top seed in the women's singles draw.
The Polish star will also be looking to do something that no other women's player has done since Serena Williams back in 2016 — win the US Open back-t0-back. While she will remain the favorite, there are many others who could win at Flushing Meadows this year according to Evert.
However, the 18-time Grand Slam champion believes there is one player who stands above the others and that's Coco Gauff.
“As far as the women, it’s obvious that one of six or eight women could win a major,” Evert said during an ESPN preview chat (via Tennis 365). “You look at Sabalenka winning Australia and [Elena] Rybakina winning [Wimbledon last year] and Vondrusova winning [this year].
“It’s obvious there are players at a very high level that can win. It depends on the draw. Like Ons Jabeur had a very tough draw at Wimbledon, I think had two or three tremendous wins in a row over top players, and just didn’t have enough left in the finals.
“I just think it has to do with winning seven consecutive matches and just being consistent, and I think having a good draw really does help. But I would say Coco to me would be Iga’s biggest threat at this moment.”
Gauff is certainly in good form heading into the US Open as she is currently 11-1 during the hard-court season in North America.
She won the WTA 500 Citi DC Open earlier this month before exiting the Canadian Open in the quarterfinal stage. However, she would bounce back by winning her first Masters 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open where she notably defeated Iga Swiatek in the semifinal along the way.
The 19-year-old made the quarterfinals of the US Open last year and also notably faced Swiatek in the final of the 2022 French Open which the latter won in straight sets.
It was the furthest the American has ever gone in a Grand Slam event and she'll be looking to go one step better in New York next month.
The US Open takes place from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10.
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