Which tennis player holds the all-time record for US Open titles at Flushing Meadows?
The US Open has returned with a host of former champions gunning for glory in New York.
Novak Djokovic enters the tournament for the first time in two years after being unable to enter the US due to his Covid vaccination status.
Djokovic has won the competition on several occasions but has triumphed just once here since 2015. He isn’t the most successful men’s singles player at Flushing Meadows – but who is?
Several recent women’s champions are not in action this year. Naomi Osaka has recently given birth to a daughter, while Emma Raducanu has sat out the majority of the 2023 campaign following multiple surgeries.
2019 champion Bianca Andreescu is out through injury, Sloane Stephens lost in the first round and Angelique Kerber is also away from the court after giving birth.
Reigning champion Iga Świątek is the only remaining winner in the competition but she will face a strong, fresh batch of competitors.
RadioTimes.com brings you the most successful players in US Open tennis history below.
Who has won the most US Open titles? (Men’s singles)
Jimmy Connors was the first man to claim five US Open titles in the Open Era, accomplishing the feat between 1974 and 1983 – a spell of sheer dominance.
Connors’s record was untroubled until Pete Sampras clinched his fifth title in 2002. Then Roger Federer happened.
The Swiss maestro won five US Open singles tournaments in a row between 2004 and 2008. He is fondly remembered as the king of Centre Court at Wimbledon, but his ferocious form on Arthur Ashe Stadium should never be downplayed.
Federer was defeated by Juan Martín del Potro in the 2009 final to stop him from becoming the outright most successful men’s singles player at the US Open, while he lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2015 showpiece match.
Djokovic boasts three titles despite featuring in nine finals, the highest number of any player in history.
Open Era US Open titles
- Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors – 5
- John McEnroe, Rafael Nadal – 4
- Novak Djokovic, Ivan Lendl – 3
- Andre Agassi, Stefan Edberg, Patrick Rafter – 2
Who has won the most US Open titles? (Women’s singles)
Serena Williams is the queen of US tennis but she wasn’t the first player to record six titles in this hallowed tournament.
Chris Evert was the first person – man or woman – to rack up six US Open tournament triumphs. She did so between 1975 and 1982, but lost three finals, in 1979, 1983 and 1984, that could have put her even further in front.
Steffi Graf launched a promising surge to dislodge Evert at the top in the late ’80s until the mid ’90s, but fell one short of equalling the record.
Enter Serena. Williams won her first title as a 17-year-old in 1999 but recorded just one more triumph prior to the 2008 competition. She hit her peak with three consecutive titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Unfortunately for Williams, she couldn’t set herself apart from Evert, with two golden opportunities in 2018 and 2019 going begging as she was toppled by Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu respectively.
Open Era US Open titles
- Chris Evert, Serena Williams – 6
- Steffi Graf – 5
- Martina Navratilova – 4
- Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Kim Clijsters – 3
- Tracy Austin, Monica Seles, Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Naomi Osaka – 2
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