The US Open is one of tennis' four Grand Slam events each year, with the women's singles being a permanent fixture of the tournament.

Traditionally the fourth major chronologically, the tournament in New York takes place after the conclusion of the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, giving stars on the WTA Tour a last chance to impress at a Grand Slam every season.

Played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the United States Open Tennis Championships – to give the event its full title – is played on hard courts.

Founded in 1881, the US Open's impressive traditions are honoured by some spectacular arenas, with the stunning Arthur Ashe Stadium being the venue's centrepiece. Louis Armstrong Stadium, the Grandstand and Court 17 make up the other show courts.

Our tournament profile features player stats as well as details about the most recent and next editions of the US Open women's singles.

Page Contents:

• Dates and key information
• Most successful players
• Best stats and records

Dates and key information
​
When is the US Open in 2020?

The 2020 edition of the US Open, the 140th in the event's history, will start on Monday August 31 and run until Sunday September 13.

Unless there are unforeseen scheduling issues, the women's singles final usually takes place on the second Saturday of the tournament.

That means the final of the 2020 event is expected to be played on Saturday September 12.

When was the US Open in 2019?

The previous edition of the US Open, the 139th, was held between Monday August 26 and Sunday September 8 in 2019.

The women's singles final was played on Saturday September 7.

US Open prize money

The US Open in the 2019 season had a record total prize fund of $57,238,700, of which $3.85 million each went to the men's and women's singles champions.

The runners-up in each event received a cool $1.9m, with semi-finalists taking home $960,000. Making the last eight earned players $500,000.

How many players take part?

There are 128 players in the main draw of the US Open. That is made up of those who are the highest ranked on the WTA Tour, any players with a protected ranking and the organisers' wildcard selections, with the other spots filled by those who have battled through the qualifying rounds.

Who is the defending champion in 2020?

Canadian star Bianca Andreescu is the current holder of the US Open title.

Aged just 19 at the time, Andreescu was a surprise winner of the tournament in the 2019 season, defeating home favourite Serena Williams 6-3 7-5 in the final.

Astonishingly, she won on her first appearance in the main draw. The previous year, in 2018, she had lost in the first qualifying round for the second consecutive US Open, while Serena was playing out one of the most controversial finals in the event's history against Naomi Osaka.

Last five US Open champions

2019: Bianca Andreescu
2018: Naomi Osaka
2017: Sloane Stephens
2016: Angelique Kerber
2015: Flavia Pennetta

The last five US Open champions have all been first-time winners of the tournament, which has not been successfully defended since Serena Williams' last success in 2014.

Most successful players

US Open: Most tournament wins in the Open Era

- 6x Chris Evert
- 6x Serena Williams
- 5x Steffi Graf
- 4x Martina Navratilova
- 3x Margaret Court
- 3x Billie Jean King 
- 3 x Kim Clijsters

Most all-time US Open wins

- 8x Molla Bjurstedt Mallory 
- 7x Helen Wills
- 6x Chris Evert
- 6x Serena Williams
- 5x Steffi Graf
- 5x Margaret Court
- 4x Eight players have won the title four times, including Martina Navratilova

Chris Evert and Serena Williams have set the standard in the modern game at the US Open, but Molla Mallory's formidable total of eight, the last of which was won in 1926, stands alone at the top of the all-time record books.

Most appearances in the US Open final (Open Era)

- 10x Serena Williams 
- 9x Chris Evert
- 8x Steffi Graff
- 8x Martina Navratilova

Serena's 10 US Open finals are an Open Era record and the joint highest overall. She tasted victory in six of her first eight finals, but has now lost two straight against Osaka (2018) and Andreescu (2019). A win in either of those matches would have seen her equal Margaret Court's all-time Grand Slam record of 24.

Evert won six of her nine appearances in finals at the US Open. Steffi Graff tasted victory in five of eight showpiece matches, while Martina Navratilova had a .500 record. 

It is Evert who has made the most consecutive finals, with six between 1975 and 1980.

Most all-time appearances in the US Open final 

- 10x Molla Bjurstedt Mallory 
- 10x Serena Williams
- 9x Chris Evert
- 9x Helen Wills

Best stats and records

American players at the US Open

Home players have impressed in the women's singles at Flushing Meadows, both recently and historically.

Evert, Serena and Navratilova are owed much of the credit for that, but Tracy Austin (two), Venus Williams (two), Sloane Stephens and Lindsay Davenport have all won on home soil too. Billie Jean King was a four-time US Open champion, three of those coming in the Open Era.

That all means Americans have come out on top in 25 of the US Opens to take place in the Open Era, with Germany the next most successful nation with six, courtesy of Graf (five) and Angelique Kerber.

Consecutive titles

Evert and Williams both won the US Open four times in a row, matching the record jointly held by Molla Mallory and Helen Jacobs from the Amateur Era. 

No player has won the women's singles five times in succession.

Youngest champion

American Tracy Austin was aged only 16 years, 8 months and 28 days when she won the first of her two US Open titles in 1979, beating Evert in the final.

Her record as the youngest champion has now stood for 40 years.

Martina Hingis (1997) also won the tournament as a 16-year-old – though she was fractionally older than Austin and was under a month away from her 17th birthday.

Third on the list in the Open Era is Monica Seles, who was the ripe old age of 17 years and nine months when she took the trophy in 1991.

Oldest champion

Mallory was 42 years, 5 months and 27 days old in 1926 when she claimed her record eighth title.

In the Open Era, the oldest champion is Flavia Pennetta. The Italian was aged 33 years, 6 months and 18 days when she triumphed in 2015.

Most tournaments and matches played

Navratilova holds the all-time record for tournament appearances with 21 in the singles event between 1973 and 1993.

Evert has played a greater number of matches than her, with 113 to her former rival's 106, but Serena is on top of the pile with 114 to her name after the completion of the 2019 US Open, where she reached the final.

Most matches won

Evert and Serena come out on top here with 101 singles matches won each at the US Open. Navratilova has 89.

Longest gap between titles

Serena holds the longest gap between her first and last titles. There were 15 years between her first and sixth crowns in 1999 and 2014 respectively.

The US Open's official YouTube account has posted five of the best points produced by Andreescu at the 2019 tournament, which we have added above.

We hope you enjoyed our tournament profile of the US Open women's singles. Check back here in the months and years ahead for updated statistics after each event has been played.

There is much more information about the US Open - including schedules, tickets and the event's history - available on the tournament website,

Here at Sport Solved we have plenty more stats articles, along with profiles and analysis content, in our tennis section.

Ashleigh Barty and Bianca Andreescu were the big winners in a dramatic 2019 on the WTA Tour.

The conclusion of the WTA Finals in Shenzhen on November 3 wrapped up an unpredictable year that began with action on December 31, 2018.

Four different players, two of whom were first-time major winners, triumphed in the Grand Slam events and the world rankings were completely shaken up from where they stood at the end of the previous campaign.

The continued emergence of quality young players in 2019 was combined with more established stars like Serena Williams and Karolina Pliskova battling to preserve their status towards the top of the sport.

That fascinating situation left room for plenty of optimism about the health of the women's game going into 2020 and beyond.

Page contents:

• Grand Slam champions
• Other top tournaments
• WTA Tour titles
• World rankings

Grand Slam champions

Australian Open – Naomi Osaka
French Open – Ashleigh Barty
Wimbledon – Simona Halep
US Open – Bianca Andreescu

After winning the 2018 US Open, Naomi Osaka made it back-to-back Grand Slams with a dramatic victory at the Australian Open.

She defeated Petra Kvitova 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-4 in a tense final, having also been taken the full three-set distance in her third round, fourth round and semi-final matches.

Until Osaka's win, no player had triumphed in two straight majors since Serena Williams in 2015, while she was the first for 18 years to win her opening two Grand Slam titles at consecutive events, Jennifer Capriati being the previous.

The Japanese star could not quite continue that momentum for the rest of the year, struggling with form and fitness for much of the clay and grass seasons, her lowest moment being a first-round exit at Wimbledon.

In August, she posted on social media about how she had not enjoyed tennis since Australia and was putting too much emphasis on results as opposed to learning from and enjoying her matches.

She put in a creditable showing in defence of her title at the US Open, reaching the fourth round despite carrying a knee injury into the New York tournament and ultimately losing to Belinda Bencic.

Osaka then impressed on the Asian swing to end the year on a high with two titles, including finally winning the Pan Pacific Open on home soil, having twice before lost in the final at that event.

Australian Barty won her first Grand Slam at the French Open, thrashing surprise finalist Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-3 to win the trophy. She had recovered from losing the first set to beat another young star, Amanda Anisimova, in the semis.

Anisimova, then just 17, had previously accounted for defending champion Simona Halep.

But Halep ensured she would remember 2019 fondly by winning Wimbledon for the first time, producing a masterclass in the final to beat Serena Williams 6-2 6-2 in only 56 minutes, making just three unforced errors.

The Romanian only dropped one set in the whole tournament and denied Serena a record-equalling 24th career major, a milestone held by Margaret Court.

Wimbledon's official YouTube channel has posted highlights which we have added below.

​Serena, 37, suffered the same fate in the final of the US Open, losing 6-3 7-5 to another inspired opponent in the shape of Andreescu.

She launched a late comeback after trailing 5-1 in the second set, saving two championship points along the way, but fell short to lose a fourth straight Grand Slam final, much to the disappointment of her vociferous fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

A battle of generations was illustrated by the fact Andreescu had not even been born when Serena won her first US Open title in 1999.

She became the first Canadian – male or female – to win a tennis major and the first teenager to win a Grand Slam on the WTA Tour since Maria Sharapova's victory at the same tournament in 2006.

​Other top tournaments

WTA Finals

After the Grand Slams, the WTA Finals was the biggest accolade up for grabs and the tournament was even more lucrative in 2019 with the Tour confirming a total prize fund of $14,000,000 for the eight players to battle over. The figure was double that of the previous year.

Barty crowned a fine campaign with victory in Shenzhen and took home a record winner's cheque of $4,420,000, topping the previous high mark of $3.85m won by Andreescu at the US Open.

Recovering from a round-robin loss to Kiki Bertens, who had replaced the injured Osaka, she defeated Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-3 in the final. 

Barty had beaten Pliskova in the last four, with Svitolina getting the better of Bencic, who retired injured when 4-1 down in the deciding set.

The year-ending event came a week after the WTA Elite Trophy, which is open to the second tier of players in the world rankings who miss out on the Finals.

It had been won by Barty in 2018 and this year's champion was Aryna Sabalenka, who was a 6–4 6–2 victor in the final against Bertens.

Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 events

Nine other key events were the four Premier Mandatory tournaments along with the Premier 5 series.

Andreescu was the only player to win two of those, triumphing in the Canadian Open on home soil having won at Indian Wells earlier in the year.

Barty took home the Miami Open title, but lost to Osaka in the final of the China Open.

Sabalenka successfully defended the Wuhan Open, Madison Keys took the biggest title of her career to date at the Cincinnati Open, Bertens came out on top at the Madrid Open and Bencic won the Dubai Tennis Championship.

Pliskova claimed the Italian Open in Rome and while she won three other events on Tour over the course of 2019, the Czech would likely have been disappointed not to have made more of a mark in the higher profile tournaments. 

WTA Tour titles

Most WTA Tour singles tiles won in 2019

4 – Ashleigh Barty
4 – Karolina Pliskova
3 – Bianca Andreescu
3 – Naomi Osaka
3 – Aryna Sabalenka
3 – Sofia Kenin

American Sofia Kenin won three WTA International events to state her case as a force to be reckoned with in the years ahead, while Coco Gauff also won her first title at the age of 15, triumphing in the Linz Open.

World rankings

Year-end number one

Barty claimed the year-end number one position for the first time in her career, rising from finishing the previous year down in 15th spot. She was also the first Australian to achieve the feat.

Three players held the number one ranking over the course of the year and there were five different reigns at top spot across 2019.

Halep started the year at the summit but did not hold on for long, losing it to Osaka after the Australian Open.

Osaka surrendered the position to Barty in June before re-claiming it two months later.

That only lasted a month, however, as Barty took over decisively in September, with the WTA Finals success ensuring she ended the campaign with a significant advantage. Her total win-loss record finished at 56-12.

Top 10 at end of 2019

1 - Ashleigh Barty
2 - Karolina Pliskova
3 - Naomi Osaka
4 - Simona Halep
5 - Bianca Andreescu
6 - Elina Svitolina
7 - Petra Kvitova
8 - Belinda Bencic
9 - Kiki Bertens
10 - Serena Williams

Astonishingly, Andreescu had ended 2018 ranked 178 and finished 2019 up at number five.

Pliskova's consistency in regular events was highlighted by her finish at number two, despite having only won one crown at Premier 5 level or higher. Bencic was the biggest riser in the top 10, surging up from number 37 to eight in the space of 12 months.

It was a poor year for Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens and Daria Kasatkina.

Kerber, having won Wimbledon, ended 2018 at number two in the world but finished 2019 at number 20, while Wozniacki sunk from third to 38th over the course of the year.

Stephens fell from sixth to 25th, while Kasatkina dropped from number 10 to 69.

We hope you enjoyed our review of the 2019 season on the WTA Tour. Some of our other tennis content may be of interest to you, including:

Naomi Osaka player profile
Bianca Andreescu player profile

Bianca Andreescu looks poised to become one of the biggest names in world tennis and our player profile will give you the key information about the star from Canada.

Her charge, while still a teenager, towards the top of the women's game in 2019 is one that will live long in the memory for sport fans.

After her year-end ranking was 178 at the end of 2018, Andreescu had won three WTA Tour titles including the US Open within nine months, beating Serena Williams in the final at Flushing Meadows to cap a remarkable rise to prominence.

No Canadian player had won a Grand Slam event before and Andreescu now looks well placed to enjoy plenty more success over the coming decade.

Our player profile on Bianca Andreescu runs through her career to date.

(Updated in November 2019)

Page contents:

• Age and family background
• Grand Slam and WTA Tour record
• Prize money and social media

Age and family background

When and where was Bianca Andreescu born?

She was born on June 16, 2000. Her birthplace is Mississauga, Ontario in Canada.

How old is Bianca Andreescu?

She is 19 years old.

What is Bianca Andreescu's height?

Andreescu is 1.70 metres tall, which equates to five foot, seven inches (5"7).

Where does Andreescu live?

Andreescu lives in Canada, the country of her birth. She currently resides in Thornhill, Ontario.

Family background 

Andreescu has Romanian heritage, with that being the home country of both her parents, who had moved to Canada to live and work around six years before her birth.

She was born in Canada and later returned after spending a few years of her childhood living in Romania, which was where she first played tennis.

Once she had joined Tennis Canada's National Training Program in Toronto at the age of 11, the speed of her development began to increase rapidly.

Grand Slam and WTA Tour record

How many Grand Slam titles has Bianca Andreescu won?

Andreescu has won one Grand Slam title. 

The major she has won is:

- 1x US Open (2019)

Total: 1

What is her record in Grand Slam finals?

She won her only appearance to date in a Grand Slam final, making her record 1-0.

Grand Slam record by event

Australian Open

Andreescu holds a 1-1 record at the Australian Open. She qualified for the first time in 2019 and reached the second round.

French Open

She is 1-0 at the French Open, having had to withdraw prior to her second-round match against Sofia Kenin in 2019 due to a shoulder injury. She had failed to qualify in the two previous years.

Wimbledon

Andreescu has only qualified for Wimbledon once, back in 2017, and lost in the opening round. Injury meant she could not play in 2019.

US Open

Andreescu's US Open record is an incredible 7-0, given she won the tournament on her first main draw appearance in 2019.

She had fallen at the first hurdle in qualifying in the two previous years, but beat Serena Williams 6-3 7-5 to cap a stunning fortnight at Flushing Meadows, denying the American a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title and handing her a second straight final loss in New York. The new champion's achievement was remarkable, with the difference in experience illustrated by the fact she was not even born when Serena won her first US Open back in 1999.

The US Open's official YouTube channel has posted extended highlights of the final, which we have added below.

Andreescu's path to the final included wins over Elise Mertens (QF) and Belinda Bencic (SF).

She had earlier beaten two-time finalist Caroline Wozniacki in the third round and only dropped two sets in her tournament triumph, one against Mertens and the other in her last-16 match with qualifier Taylor Townsend.

How many WTA Tour titles has Bianca Andreescu won?

She has won three career titles, a total which includes her US Open success in September 2019.

Andreescu's first three tournament victories have all come at premier five level or higher. She mirrored Naomi Osaka's 2018 feat of winning her first tournament in Indian Wells before going on to win the US Open later in the same year.

Listed in the order she won them for the first time, her WTA Tour titles are:

- 1x Indian Wells Open (2019)
- 1x Canadian Open (2019)
- 1x US Open (2019)

Total: 3

Number of WTA Tour finals

Andreescu has reached four career WTA Tour finals and has a record in showpiece matches of 3-1.

The only final she has lost is:

- 1x Auckland Open (2019)

The Auckland Open in January 2019 was Andreescu's first career final and, despite winning the opening set, she went on to lose 2-6 7-5 6-1 to Julia Goerges.

She has won all three of her final appearances since then.

All four of the finals she has reached on the WTA Tour have been in hard-court events.

Andreescu's WTA titles won by year

2019: 3

WTA Tour finals reached by year

2019: 4

Her history in the tennis world rankings

Still seen mainly as a promising youngster, Andreescu had barely made an impression on the senior women's game before her stunning performances in 2019.

Ending the previous season at 178, she finished 2019 ranked at number five in the world having hit a peak of number four in October, shortly after her US Open win.

Here are Andreescu's official year-end rankings, as per the WTA's website:

2015: 633
2016: 306
2017: 182
2018: 178
2019: 5

What is her playing style?

Andreescu is a right-handed player, who uses a two-handed backhand. She has powerful groundstrokes and often employs an aggressive style, but has also been praised for the wide variety of shots in her game, which she often mixes up to keep her opponents guessing.

Does Andreescu play doubles?

Not much on the professional tour, but she was a useful doubles player in her youth career.

Indeed, Andreescu won two junior Grand Slam titles, the Australian Open and French Open, in 2017.

She was runner-up at a full WTA doubles event with partner and compatriot Carson Branstine later that year and holds a career record of 29-16. 

Now, though, her focus is on singles. She only played one doubles match on the WTA Tour across 2018 and 2019, though has played that format in the Fed Cup for Canada.

Her career high ranking in doubles is 147.

Prize money and social media

How much prize money has Bianca Andreescu won in her tennis career?

At the end of the 2019 season, Andreescu's career prize money earned was $6,720,038. The fact $6,504,150 of that total had come in that year alone illustrated how rapid her rise to the summit had been.

She pocketed a massive $3.85m for her victory at the US Open and told reporters after the victory that, three years earlier, she had written herself a fake winner's cheque for the tournament.

Andreescu updated the figure each year as the Flushing Meadows prize money increased and used it to help her visualise the winning moment, which arrived for real sooner than perhaps even she could have anticipated.

Prize money figures relate solely to earnings from on-court performances. Any other forms of income like endorsements, appearance fees and business activities are not factored into the figure.

What tennis racket and clothing brands endorse Andreescu?

Andreescu uses a Head tennis racket and wears Nike gear on court.

Is Bianca Andreescu on social media?

Yes.

Andreescu has 200,000 followers on her Twitter account, 680,000 on Instagram and around 70,000 likes on Facebook.

Find out more about Andreescu:

As with any major athlete, the latest news about Andreescu is covered in sport sections across global print and digital news publications.

Some useful resources are:

Her WTA Tour official profile
Andreescu's Wikipedia page

If you enjoyed our player profile on Bianca Andreescu, you may wish to look at the others we will be producing for the top stars in world tennis and other sports over the coming months here at Sport Solved.

Naomi Osaka's player profile can be found here.

Tournament profiles will also be produced for the biggest events in sport and our articles will attempt to tackle the most common questions asked about sport.

Naomi Osaka is one of the biggest names in world tennis and our player profile will tell you everything you need to know about the star from Japan.

After turning professional in September 2013, when she was still just a 15-year-old, Osaka incredibly became a Grand Slam champion within five years by winning the 2018 US Open.

That triumph made her the first Japanese player ever, male or female, to win a tennis major.

She has attracted huge attention from the world's media ever since and become one of the WTA Tour's most heavily scrutinised and marketable players, all of which intensified when she climbed to the top of the world rankings in 2019.

Our player profile on Naomi Osaka runs through her career to date.

(Updated in November 2019)

Page contents:

• Age and family background
• Grand Slam and WTA Tour record
• Osaka's rise to prominence
• US Open 2018: Controversial final
• Prize money and social media

Age and family background

When and where was Naomi Osaka born?

Osaka was born on October 16, 1997.

She was born in Japan. Her place of birth is Chuo-ku in the city of Osaka.

By population, Osaka is Japan's third biggest city behind the capital, Tokyo, and Yokohama.

How old is Naomi Osaka?

She is 22 years old.

What is Naomi Osaka's height?

Osaka is 1.80 metres tall, which equates to five foot, 11 inches (5"11).

What is Naomi Osaka's family background?

Osaka's mother is Japanese and her father is from Haiti. Her parents, Tamaki Osaka and Leonard Francois, met on the island of Hokkaido, where Tamaki was from. Leonard was a college student in New York prior to meeting her. They had moved to Osaka before Naomi's birth.

The children were given their mother's maiden name, which was also the name of their home city, for practical reasons while living in Japan, and kept that after their move to the States.

The parents' relationship caused tension on Tamaki's side of the family. A New York Times feature detailed how it was kept secret for years and, once revealed when Tamaki's father pushed for an arranged marriage with a Japanese man, caused a family feud that lasted over a decade. 

Naomi Osaka has an older sister Mari, who also plays professional tennis. The two trained together growing up and constantly honed their skills playing with and against one another.

But Mari has not achieved the same success and has a career-high ranking is 280. As professionals, they briefly competed together in doubles.

Mari was initially seen as the stronger prospect and Naomi revealed much of her motivation at a young age came from trying to become good enough to beat her sister rather than an enjoyment of hitting and training.

When they played full sets, Naomi explained Mari would usually win 6-0. It took Naomi 12 years to beat her sister, which she hailed as a watershed moment. 

Naomi reflected in 2019: "I don't know what happened, something finally clicked in my head, but for sure she was beating me until I was 15, it was ridiculous! In the win-loss category, she's still up by a million."

After a growth spurt in her teens, Naomi soon became taller and stronger than her sister and developed more quickly from there, while Mari was also unfortunate with injuries.

It was their father who coached them early in their childhood after moving his family to the States. Despite not being a tennis expert, Leonard had been inspired by how Richard Williams had guided Venus and Serena to unprecedented success.

Where was she brought up?

After being born in Japan, Osaka moved to the United States at the age of three. The family initially lived in Long Island, New York, with her Haitian grandparents. By the age of nine, she was living in Florida, a move taken to focus on her and Mari's tennis development. 

They trained in the day on public courts and were home-schooled at night, an approach initially disapproved of by their maternal grandparents back in Japan, even as family relations eventually began to improve, though they would later be won over after Naomi's success.

As teenagers, they began playing on the pro satellite tours and Osaka began receiving professional training at a variety of tennis academies.

Where does she live now?

Osaka lives in Boca Raton, Florida, United States.

Is Naomi Osaka married?

No, she is not married and does not yet have children.

Which nation does Osaka represent in tennis?

Osaka represents Japan. Her father decided while his daughters were still young that he wanted them to represent the country of their birth. He explained they had been born in Osaka, brought up in a multi-cultural household and "felt Japanese". 

Leonard insisted it was not a financial decision nor one influenced by tennis governing bodies. Japanese media, though, have regularly reported that the interest, support and funding provided by the JTA at a young age was very helpful to the family.

The USTA, in contrast, did not show as much interest in Osaka in her younger teenage years and were slow off the mark until they eventually tried to offer her training at the national center when she was 16. But by then she had already played on the WTA Tour and declined the offer. 

What is her playing style?

Osaka is a right-handed player, who has a two-handed backhand. She plays with power, looking to dominate with her quick serves and groundstrokes. The WTA Tour describe her as "an aggressive baseliner", whose favourite shot is her forehand.

Who is Osaka's inspiration in tennis?

Serena Williams. 

Speaking as an 18-year-old in January 2016, Osaka told USA Today: "I was really impressed by her and wanted to play like her when I was little. Well, I hope I'm starting to play like her now."

At that point, Osaka was telling reporters of her goal to break into the top 100, but Serena was already impressed and had spotted a potential star, saying: "I have seen her play. She's really young and really aggressive. She's a really good, talented player. Very dangerous."

Inside three years, the American had been more than proven right and the two were facing off in an infamous US Open final.

Grand Slam and WTA Tour record

How many Grand Slam titles has Naomi Osaka won?

Osaka has won two Grand Slam titles. 

The majors she has won are:

- 1x US Open (2018)
- 1x Australian Open (2019)

Total: 2

What is her record in Grand Slam finals?

Osaka has won on both of her appearances in a Grand Slam final. Her record is 2-0.

Grand Slam record by event

Australian Open

Osaka has a 13-3 record at the Australian Open, which she won in 2019 to become the first player since Jennifer Capriati (2001) to win her first two Grand Slams in consecutive majors. Osaka won a tense final against Petra Kvitova in three sets.

The Australian Open's official YouTube channel has posted extended highlights of her final victory, which we have listed below.

As well as her dramatic win over Kvitova, Osaka had also needed a deciding set to defeat another Czech player, Karolina Pliskova, in the semis, plus she was taken the distance twice more in the earlier rounds.

The event was her fourth appearance in the main draw and her hard-earned title was the first time she made it past the last-16 stage in Melbourne.

French Open

Osaka has played the French Open four times and is yet to make it beyond the third round, with an overall record of 6-4.

Wimbledon

Her worst Grand Slam so far has been Wimbledon, with a 4-3 match record to her name. The lowest moment was when Osaka, as second seed, suffered a straight sets first-round exit in 2019 against Yulia Putintseva on Centre Court.

US Open

Osaka's US Open 2018 victory is covered in detail later in this profile. The defence of her title saw her reach the fourth round in 2019 before being beaten by Belinda Bencic, a creditable performance given she had come into the event carrying a knee injury. 

She had reached the third round in her 2016 and 2017 appearances, making her total record an impressive 14-3.

How many WTA Tour titles has Naomi Osaka won? 

She has won five career titles, a total which includes her two Grand Slams.

Two of Osaka's first three titles were majors, meaning she initially had won more Grand Slams than regular WTA Tour events - a rare feat and one which, over time, was likely to change given the greater frequency of the other tournaments.

Listed in the order she won them for the first time, her WTA Tour titles are:

- 1x Indian Wells Open (2018)
- 1x US Open (2018)
- 1x Australian Open (2019)
- 1x Pan Pacific Open (2019)
- 1x China Open (2019)

Total: 5

Number of WTA Tour finals

Osaka has reached a total of seven WTA Tour finals. Her record in showpiece matches is 5-2.

The finals she has lost on the WTA Tour are:

- 2x Pan Pacific Open (2016 & 2018)

The two finals she has lost both came in the same tournament, the Pan Pacific Open, which is a WTA Premier event played in her home country of Japan. She lost to Caroline Wozniacki in 2016 and Karolina Pliskova in 2018, both defeats coming in straight sets. Osaka finally won on home soil in 2019, defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final.

All seven of the finals she has reached have been in hard-court events.

Osaka's WTA titles won by year

2018: 2
2019: 3

WTA Tour finals reached by year

2016: 1
2017: 0
2018: 3
2019: 3

Her history in the tennis world rankings

She reached world number one for the first time after winning the Australian Open in 2019, becoming the first Asian player, male or female, to top the singles rankings.

A 21-week stint at the top ended when Osaka lost top spot to Ashleigh Barty just before Wimbledon, but she reclaimed first position in August 2019. 

Barty once again moved into first place just four weeks later and the Australian held the position until the end of the year.

Osaka has not yet achieved the status of year-end number one. Her best year-end ranking so far has been number 3, achieved in 2019.

Here are Osaka's official year-end rankings, as per the WTA's website:

2012: 1028
2013: 430
2014: 250
2015: 203
2016: 40
2017: 68
2018: 5
2019: 3

Osaka's rise to prominence

The rise of Naomi Osaka: Early WTA Tour career

Osaka made her mark immediately on the WTA Tour. Having made multiple attempts to qualify for a main draw, she reached her first full tournament at the Stanford Classic in 2014 and swiftly began making waves. 

Ranked 406 in the world and aged just 16, she had never won a match even in qualifying at the WTA level before this event. However, she pulled off a stunning upset in the first round, defeating Samantha Stosur, the world number 19.

Osaka won 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, saving a match point in the second set. She said afterwards: "It's probably the second-best win of my life, the first being when I first beat my sister!

"I don't know anyone who goes into a match thinking they don't deserve to be here, and I think I do deserve to be here."

After being unable to qualify for Wimbledon and the US Open in 2015, she reached her first Grand Slam and made a huge mark at the 2016 Australian Open. 

Aged 18, having won three qualifying matches to get there, she won her first-round match against Donna Vekic in straight sets, a first victory in a match at a major.

Better still, she then recorded the biggest win over her career to date by beating number 18 seed Elina Svitolina, also in straight sets.

She lost convincingly in the third round against Victoria Azarenka, partly due to an abdominal injury, but left the tournament with her place as one of the game's rising stars no longer in question.

At the French Open that year, she again beat a seed in Jelena Ostapenko, an achievement that looked even better the following year when the Latvian was crowned Roland Garros champion.

Simona Halep, another future French Open winner, beat Osaka in the third round, edging the final set of a close contest.

She missed Wimbledon through injury but made it three third-round Grand Slam appearances for the year at the US Open and so nearly got further, only to lose a 5-1 lead in the deciding set against Madison Keys.

Before the year was out, she made her first WTA Tour final at the Pan Pacific Open, where she lost to Wozniacki.

At the end of a 2016 season where she had come from relative obscurity to become a recognised figure, she was named as WTA Newcomer of the Year.

The 2017 season was a slight disappointment in terms of Osaka not making the next step, with no finals or notable runs at tournaments, though she did consolidate her place as a regular on tour and recorded a couple of notable victories.

She beat defending champion Angelique Kerber in the first round of the US Open, her first win over a top-10 player, shortly after reaching the third round in her Wimbledon debut before losing to Venus Williams in two close sets. She would go on to beat Venus in Hong Kong later that year.

But if 2017 had not quite met expectations, 2018 was going to surpass her wildest dreams.

Sascha Bajin was brought in as coach and she reached her first-ever Grand Slam fourth round at the Australian Open to start the year with a bang. Barty was among the players she defeated, with eventual runner-up Halep once again the player to end her major hopes.

Her first WTA Tour title soon followed at the Indian Wells Open, a premier mandatory event just one level down from the majors. 

Having beaten Maria Sharapova in the first round, Osaka dropped only one set in seven matches at Indian Wells. 

She saw off Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals and beat Halep in the last four with a stunning 6-3 6-0 result, the first time she had beaten Halep and also her first win over a player ranked number one in the world, as the Romanian was at the time. Osaka beat Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-2 in the final and became the youngest winner at the tournament for a decade.

A major milestone came the following week when she faced idol Serena Williams for the first time in Miami and won, with the veteran having only recently returned from maternity leave.

She had to settle for third-round appearances at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018, losing to Keys in Paris and eventual champion Kerber in England. But the US Open, and her rise to superstardom, was only just around the corner.

US Open 2018: Controversial final

How did Naomi Osaka win the US Open in 2018?

After a superb run to the final that saw her drop just one set in six matches and included her avenging the previous two Grand Slam defeats to Keys with a win in the last four, Osaka took on Serena Williams.

Incredibly, she defeated her idol 6-2 6-4 in the final.

Unfortunately, the match and her incredible achievement was overshadowed by a major controversy.

What happened with Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open final?

Serena, then 36, was looking to tie Margaret Court's Grand Slam singles record of 24 crowns, but the 20-year-old from Japan stunned her in 79 minutes.

Sadly for Osaka, a sensational victory in the final against her inspiration was marred by, and will be remembered for, an angry feud between Serena and Portuguese chair umpire Carlos Ramos. 

The affair led to the frustrated American fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium loudly booing during the trophy presentation. It left both Osaka and Williams in tears.

Three code violations had been called against Williams. They had been handed down for coaching, racket abuse and verbal abuse, costing her a warning, then a point and then a full game.

Serena branded Ramos "a liar" and a "thief", demanding an apology. She also protested to the event referee during the match, suggesting she was being treated differently to male players who had committed the same offences.

How did it all unfold?

A confident Osaka, who had said before the match that the chance to face Serena had inspired her during the semi-final win over Keys, claimed the first set 6-2 courtesy of two breaks. It had all been relatively routine with no sign of the controversy that was to come.

In the second game of the second set, the fiercely debated events started. Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou was seen making hand movements, just as his player appeared to look toward her box. Ramos called a code violation for coaching.

Whether Serena had seen the move or not, by the letter of the law a coaching code violation was correct. Mouratoglou later explained to ESPN: "When I did this motion, I felt like 'Serena is in trouble'. 

"I felt a lot of emotion because it's such a big match for her. And I want to help, that's my job to help her. So I do a motion that she doesn't even see, actually. But that's why I do a motion. Yeah, it's coaching.

"Yes [it was the first time I ever did it] because I felt it was an important moment, probably one of the biggest moments of her career. She was in a Grand Slam final to equal the record of all times and she's losing.

"I feel at that moment she's lost on the court. So I try to help her. That's my job."

Serena protested to Ramos: "I don't cheat to win. I'd rather lose. If he's giving me a thumbs up, he's telling me to come on. We don't have any code, and I know you don't know that, and I understand why you thought that was coaching but I'm telling you it's not."

Coaching from the stands was commonly seen from other coaches in the game and not consistently penalised, while not everyone involved, including seemingly Serena, were aware of how the rule worked, two issues that intensified the initial controversy.

Mouratoglou claimed Osaka's then coach Sascha Bajin had been making signals throughout and says it went on from "100% of coaches in 100% of matches".

Serena had a further exchange with Ramos at the changeover discussing the coaching penalty and the pair appeared to agree to disagree. Serena seemed to have found new motivation as she moved 3-1 ahead, but would win only one more game from that point on.

The veteran player smashed her racket when Osaka brought it back to 3-2. That earned her a second code violation and lost her a point, but she had not initially heard the call, prompting her to approach the umpire chair asking why she was starting the next game 15-0 down. She called the situation "unbelievable" and related it to past issues she had encountered at the US Open, saying "every time I play here I have problems". 

She also demanded that Ramos should make an announcement to say she did not receive coaching and apologise, vowing she had never cheated in her career.

When Osaka won another two games to go 4-3 up, there was another heated exchange between Serena and Ramos at the change of ends, and this is where she called him "a liar" and "a thief", arguing he had stolen a point from her and attacked her character. The umpire immediately handed down a third code violation, giving Osaka a game, a penalty that is rarely seen, and a 5-3 lead that put her on the brink of the title. 

Serena initially protested to Ramos and then called over the tournament referee Brian Earley and WTA Supervisor Donna Kelso to state her case.

Osaka soon wrapped up the 6-2 6-4 victory. In the days after the match, Serena was fined a total of $17,000 for each of the three code violations and the ITF backed Ramos' decisions in the match. Serena, though, felt there had been double standards and that a man would not have received the same penalties.

How did Osaka react and what did she say?

After an unreturned serve sealed victory, Osaka smiled and looked emotional, though did not begin a dramatic celebration.

Osaka shared a hug with Williams at the side of the net, but the American would not shake hands with Ramos and again told him she was owed an apology.

As the spectators booed Ramos on his way off the court, Osaka embraced her team but did not acknowledge the crowd. She sat at her bench and hid her face with a towel. The booing then intensified once more during the trophy presentation, which Ramos did not attend, and Osaka shielded her face again, this time with her hat, and wept next to Williams, who put her arm around the Japanese star.

Having initially consoled Osaka, Serena then became emotional in her on-court interview, saying: "I don't want to be rude. I don't want to do questions or interrupt [the moment]. She played well. This is her first Grand Slam. I know you [the fans] were rooting and I was too but let's make this the best moment we can, we'll get through it. Credit where it is due, let's not boo anymore. Let's be positive and get through this. Congratulations Naomi, no more booing!"

This changed the mood in the stadium, as the fans began to enthusiastically applaud Serena and Osaka, as the American runner-up went on to thank her team and the spectators.

Fighting back tears again, Osaka addressed the crowd, saying: "I'm sorry. I know that everyone was cheering for her, and I'm sorry that it had to end like this. I just want to say thank you for watching the match. Thank you. 

"My mum has sacrificed a lot for me, and it means a lot for her to come and watch my matches. She doesn't normally do that. All that we're missing is my dad but he physically doesn't watch my matches. He just walks around so I'll see him later."

She then turned to her beaten opponent and said: "It was always my dream to play Serena in the US Open finals, so I'm really glad that I was able to do that. I'm really grateful that I was able to play with you. Thank you."

Reflecting on the win the following month, Osaka discussed her mixed feelings about how the final would be remembered.

She said: "For me, the memory of the US Open is a little bit bittersweet.

"Right after, the day after, I really didn't want to think about it because it wasn't necessarily the happiest memory for me. I just sort of wanted to move on at that point.

"Of course I'm happy that I won a Grand Slam, I don't think there's anything that can take away from that, but I feel like it was so strange, I didn't just want to think about it.

"I wanted to just push it to the side."

Does Naomi Osaka play doubles?

No, at the moment she does not play doubles on the WTA Tour.

She played that version of the sport on Tour briefly as a young player, but did not have much success. Her career record reads two wins and 14 defeats. She never made it past the second round of a Grand Slam and did not win a doubles title during that brief stint.

Focusing on singles seems to have been a successful strategy.

However, Osaka has played doubles at team events like the Fed Cup and the Hopman Cup. At the 2019 US Open, Osaka was asked about the prospect of playing mixed doubles with Kei Nishikori at the 2020 Olympic Games.

She replied: "Yeah, so the thing is anyone that knows my doubles track record knows that I'm down!

"So the thing is I would play. I would definitely play with him. I just would actually need to practice doubles for the first time in my life because you cannot play mixed doubles with Kei Nishikori and lose in the first round of the Olympics in Tokyo. 

"I would cry. I would actually cry for losing a doubles match.

"Yeah, I definitely think that would be so historic in a way and I would love to do it, but I need to practice my doubles."

Prize money and social media

How much prize money has Naomi Osaka won in her tennis career?

At the end of the 2019 season, Osaka's career prize money earned was $14,417,479.

That relates solely to prizes earned through on-court performance and does not factor in endorsements, appearance fees, business activities or any other form of income.

Forbes found she earned an astonishing $24.3m between June 2018 and June 2019, of which $16m came in the form of endorsements, around double that of her earnings from on-court results over that 12-month spell.

Her total earnings across that period were second only to Serena Williams ($29.2m). Forbes wrote: "Osaka's accomplishments, youth, skill and multicultural appeal make her a marketer's dream."

Serena, Li Na and Maria Sharapova were the only previous female tennis players to earn more than $20m in a year.

What tennis racket brand does Naomi Osaka use?

Osaka uses a Yonex tennis racket and has done throughout her career.

Which tennis clothing brand endorses Naomi Osaka?

Nike.

Osaka previously worse Adidas clothing but signed a lucrative deal with Nike in 2019.

Her earnings are predicted to increase further over the next year, with some of the factors credited as her new agreement with Nike and the Olympic Games coming to Tokyo in 2020, which will create huge commercial opportunities.

Is Naomi Osaka on social media?

Yes.

Osaka has around 500,000 followers on her Twitter account, 1.1 million on Instagram and around 150,000 likes on Facebook.

Where can I find out more about Naomi Osaka?

As you would expect, she is heavily covered all over the internet as well as on television and in other news publications all over the world.

Some useful resources are:

Naomi Osaka's website
Her WTA Tour official profile
Osaka's Wikipedia page

If you enjoyed our player profile on Naomi Osaka, you may wish to look at the others we will be producing for the top stars in world tennis and other sports over the coming months here at Sport Solved.

Bianca Andreescu's player profile can be found here.

We will also have profiles of all the major tournaments and some articles answering the most common questions asked about sport.