My U.S. Open top 10

Aryna Sabalenka and the US Open trophy. pic.twitter.com/S74SnwYGCa

— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) September 6, 2025

 My top 10 U.S. Open occurrences, in ascending order:

10. The power of a bad memory: “I just tried to not focus on the fact that I'm 2-4 or 0-2 down. I just tried to focus on every point, every shot that I make, on my plan, and my tasks on court. Then, yeah, I kind of forgot the score.” Those are the words of  new U.S. Open junior champion Jeline Vandromme of Belgium. The 14th seed, she won the title when she defeated qualifier Lea Nilsson 7-6(2), 6-2. And Nilsson's run was impressive. She had to win two qualifying rounds before knocking out three seeded players on her way to the final.

9. If you can make it here...: Until this year's U.S. Open, people who aren't serious tennis fans had probably never heard of Ann Li. However, on her way to the round of 16, the Pennsylvania native  took out 16th seed Belinda Bencic. She lost to 4th seed Jessica Pegula, but it was a very good run.

8, Twirling into the future: 45-year-old Venus Williams, a two-time U.S. Open singles champion and two-time U.S. Open doubles champion, entered the doubles competition with new partner Leylah Fernandez, and the pair took out two seeded teams on their way to the round of 16. They fell to top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, but it was fun to watch them, and to watch Fernandez make a point of getting her partner to do her famous twirl.

7. Hard (court) times:  6th seed and Australian Open champion Madison Keys lost a close first round match to Mexico's Renata Zarazua, who needed three hours and ten minutes to defeat her, 7-6(10), 6-7(3), 7-5. 

6. Yui makes it three: Top seed Yui Kamiji won her third U.S. Open wheelchair singles title at this year's tournament. Having already defeated six-time U.S. Open champion Diede de Groot in the quarterfinals, she defeated 3rd seed Li Xiaohui 0-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the final. Li and her partner, Wang Ziying--the 2nd seeds--won the doubles title, defeating the unseeded team of de Groot and Zhu Zhenzhen 6-4, 7-6(4).

5. Point made--I hope: The U.S. Open's ridiculous mixed doubles "competition"--a glorified exhibition event, paired all manner of players with each other, while omitting most actual mixed doubles and doubles specialists. Fortunately, a couple of those specialists--Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the defending champions--won the event. This is the pair's second U.S. Open mixed doubles title, and their third title overall.

4. Hard to say goodbye: Both Petra Kvitova and Caroline Garcia retired from professional tennis at this year's U.S. Open. The two-time Wimbledon champion and the flying Frenchwoman--a two-time French Open doubles champion (with an outstanding singles record)--will be missed by fans and peers alike.

3. The hottest show in town: In 2009, Flavia Pennetta lit up the U.S. Open when she saved six match points with winners in her round of 16 match against Vera Zvonareva. In 2025, for Barbora Krejcikova, this became a "hold my Pilsner Urquell" moment: The Czech star, also in the round of 16, saved eight match points with winners in her match against Taylor Townsend. In the previous round, she had defeated Emma Navarro after going down 0-3 in the third set. Because of injury and rehab, Krejcikova had played only twelve matches during the season at this point, and she had saved match points in three of them.

2. Sweet repeat: 3rd seeds Gaby Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, who won the U.S. Open doubles title in 2023, did it again this year, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend. The pair also won the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati right before coming to New York. Their recent success is especially poignant, considering that Dabrowski was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.

Dabrowski and Routliffe reign supreme in New York, overcoming Siniakova/Townsend to claim the crown! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/HB62FMo6no

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2025

1. Roar!: She took the scenic route, but world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka won her major in 2025. A finalist at both the Australian Open and the French Open, and a semifinalist at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open was Sabalenka's final chance to get a big trophy this year. She was also the defending champion, which probably created even more pressure, but the Tiger was up to the task. 

In an interesting twist to the story, at each of the other majors, her defeat came from a player from the USA--Madison Keys, Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova. And wouldn't you know it? In the final of the U.S. Open, there was Anisimova, the Wimbledon finalist--and a woman with a 6-3 record against Sabalenka--again. The two hard hitters played for an hour and a half, and there was a moment in the second set when it appeared that Anisimova had a chance to extend the match, but Sabalenka was too focused, and too good at winning the big points. 

This is Sabalenka's fourth major title; she won the U.S. Open last year, of course, and she won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024.