The 9 women to defend the US Open title: Can Aryna Sabalenka join tennis icons?
Aryna Sabalenka prevailed at the US Open in 2024; can she lift the title once again in 2025?
Nine women have successfully defended the title in the Open Era, though it has been 11 years since anyone claimed back-to-back women’s singles titles in New York.
Here, we look at the exclusive club Sabalenka will hope to join.
Margaret Court – 1969-70
One of the most successful tennis players of all time, Court was the first woman in the Open Era to defend her title in New York.
The Australian defeated home favourite Nancy Richey in straight sets to lift the title in 1969, and twelve months later beat another US star, Rosie Casals, in three sets to reign supreme once again.
Court would again triumph in 1973, lifting what proved to be the final major singles title of her career.
Billie Jean King – 1971-72
Straight after Court’s back-to-back titles, King herself completed a successful US Open title defence in the early 1970s.
The US icon defeated Casals in the 1971 final to triumph at the tournament for the first time in the Open Era, before victory over Kerry Melville in 1972.
King would later add a further US Open title to her collection in 1974, beating Evonne Goolagong.
Chris Evert – 1975-78
Evert holds a joint record of six US Open titles in the Open Era, including a run of four consecutive victories in the mid-to-late 1970s.
The American beat Goolagong to lift her first US Open title in 1975, and beat her Australian rival once again to lift her title in 1976.
Evert made it three US Open titles in a row thanks to a victory over Wendy Turnbull in 1977, before downing compatriot Pam Shriver in the 1978 final.
The American’s run was snapped by Tracy Austin in the 1979 final, though won further titles in 1980 and 1982.
Martina Navratilova – 1983-84, 1986-87
Navratilova won four of her 18 Grand Slam singles titles in New York, and completed two successful title defences.
The Czech-born American defeated chief rival Evert to seal her first US Open title in 1983, and then triumphed against the same opponent to defend her crown in 1984.
After falling to Hana Mandlikova in the 1985 final, Navratilova regained her crown with victory over Helena Sukova in 1986, before beating Steffi Graf in 1987.
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Steffi Graf – 1988-89, 1995-96
The winner of five US Open titles across her legendary career, Graf successfully defended the title on two separate occasions in New York.
The German beat Gabriela Sabatini to triumph in 1988, completing the Calendar Grand Slam, and battled past Navratilova in the 1989 final – though her run was ended by Sabatini in 1990.
After winning the title in 1993, Graf beat Monica Seles to lift her fourth title in 1995, and beat her rival once again in 1996 to claim the title for a fifth and final time.
Monica Seles – 1991-92
Though she lost back-to-back finals to Graf in the mid-1990s, Seles was already a two-time US Open champion by that stage.
The former world No 1 lifted the title for the first time in 1991, defeating former champion Navratilova in straight sets, and then saw off Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the 1992 final.
Seles missed the tournament in 1993 and 1994 following her stabbing, meaning she reached the final on four consecutive appearances at the event.
Venus Williams – 2000-01
Venus made a historic 94th Grand Slam main-draw appearance at the US Open in 2025, a tournament which she won twice in the early 2000s.
The US great defeated Lindsay Davenport for her first title in 2000, before she beat sister Serena in the 2001 final to successfully defend her title.
Venus was close to a third straight title in 2002, though she lost to her sister in the championship match that year.
Kim Clijsters – 2009-10
Having won her first Grand Slam title at the 2005 US Open, Clijsters returned from retirement and motherhood to win the title twice more.
In just her third tournament back, the Belgian beat future Slam winner Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to triumph, before thrashing Vera Zvonareva in the 2010 final.
Three of Clijsters’ four major singles triumphs came in New York, with the Belgian also winning the 2011 Australian Open.
Serena Williams – 2012-14
Serena won a joint record of six women’s singles titles in the Open Era, matching Evert, and remains the last woman to successfully defend the title.
After triumphs in 1999, 2002, and 2008, the American battled past Victoria Azarenka in a three-set thriller to lift her fourth US Open title.
Serena then defeated Azarenka again in 2013 to defend her crown, before completing a US Open ‘threepeat’ thanks to a victory over Wozniacki in 2014.
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