US Open 2022: First time at Flushing Meadows defending champion is not a top-10 seed

Emma Raducanu will look to defend her title at the US Open in the next fortnight. With the teenager seeded 11th, it will mark the first time the defending champion at Flushing Meadows will be seeded outside the top 10 since seeds were increased to 16 in 1976.

Last year, Raducanu scripted a fairy-tale triumph, becoming the first qualifier - male or female - to win a singles Major in the Open Era. Interestingly, the Briton won all 10 of her matches - including three in qualifying - in straight sets.

However, she has struggled to replicate that success this year, winning only 13 of her 28 matches. Raducanu has not reached a semifinal this season - making the last eight in Stuttgart (lost to Iga Swiatek) and Washington D.C. (lost to Liudmila Samsonova). That explains her lowly seeding in New York.

It marks the fourth time in the Open Era that the defending champion at a Major won't be a top 10 seed. All three previous instances have happened at the Australian Open - Naomi Osaka (13) in 2022, Kim Clijsters (11) in 2012 and Serena Williams in 2006.

Meanwhile, Raducanu will open her title defense at Flushing Meadows against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.

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Who was the last woman to go back-to-back at US Open?

Serena Williams successfully defended her US Open title in 2014

The US Open has had seven different ladies' singles winners in the last eight years. Naomi Osaka is the only player to win multiple titles in this period. However, the World No. 44 did not do so in consecutive years, winning in 2017 and 2019.

The retiring Serena Williams is the last woman to go back-to-back in New York. The 40-year-old did a three-peat in 2014, beating Caroline Wozniacki in the final. Although she made the final in 2018 and 2019, she failed to lift the title.

Williams' six titles at Flushing Meadows are the joint-most (also Chris Evert) by a woman in the Open Era. The retiring legend has won a staggering 106 of her 120 matches at the US Open. She reached the third round on her debut in 1998 - her earliest exit in the tournament.

The 23-time Major winner will commence her 21st and final US Open campaign against Danka Kovinic. Williams will have to play well to clear the first-round hurdle, as she has won only one of her four singles matches all year.

Also Checkout:- US Open 2022 Schedule