Two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka is looking like her old self this week, as the world No. 24 advanced to the 2025 New York Grand Slam's third round for the first time since 2021 with a straight-set win over the US's No. 47 Hailey Baptiste on Thursday.
"I don't make it my business to know anymore, I kind of just leave it up in the air," said the fan favorite following questions about a possible fifth Grand Slam title run. "I've trained really hard. I practiced really hard. If it happens, it happens."
After taking her lumps on the WTA Tour since returning from pregnancy in 2024, the 2025 US Open marks Osaka's first seeded entry into a major tournament since 2022 — and she appears to be embracing her competitive boost in style, complete with eye-catching outfits and a matching Labubu.
The 27-year-old Japanese national next faces No. 18 Daria Kasatkina in the pair's third career meeting, with Osaka getting the best of the Australian in both previous matchups — most recently at the 2024 Italian Open.
Should Osaka advance to Sunday's Round of 16, she could be on a collision course toward a date with No. 3 Coco Gauff, after the US star advanced past her own emotionally challenging second-round battle on Thursday.
How to watch Naomi Osaka at the 2025 US Open
With times still to be announced, Osaka will next battle Kasatkina during the second day of 2025 US Open third-round play on Saturday.
Live coverage of the New York Grand Slam airs across ESPN platforms.
The 2025 US Open is putting the WTA's best to the test, with some top-ranked players battling in three-set epics in the annual Grand Slam's first round.
World No. 6 Madison Keys suffered the first major upset of the tournament on Monday, committing 89 unforced errors across three hours and 10 minutes of play to fall to Mexico's No. 82 Renata Zarazúa 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5.
No. 3 Coco Gauff also found herself locked in a three-set battle, narrowly defeating Australia's No. 79 Ajla Tomljanović 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 in her own three-hour endurance trial on Tuesday.
"This is the match that I needed," Gauff said afterwards. "I don't think it can get any more stressful than this."
Meanwhile, other top talents have seen smoother rides, with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Iga Świątek, and No. 4 Jessica Pegula all dispatching their opponents with relative ease.
Fan favorite No. 24 Naomi Osaka also cruised through her first-round matchup against No. 106 Greet Minnen, downing the Belgian in straight sets on Tuesday to meet US star No. 47 Hailey Baptiste on Thursday's second-round court.
A dramatic finish in Wednesday's second-round play also dominated headlines, as popular US contender No. 139 Taylor Townsend — the current world No. 1 doubles player — served Latvia's No. 26 Jeļena Ostapenko a 7-5, 6-1 upset loss in singles play, with the pair's heated post-match exchange causing a stir.
"[Ostapenko] told me I have no class and no education and to see what happens when we get outside the US," Townsend relayed in her on-court interview.
How to watch the 2025 US Open
The US Open's second-round play concludes on Thursday before the third round kicks off on Friday.
Live coverage of the New York Grand Slam airs across ESPN platforms.
Sportico released its 2025 tennis prize money tracker late last week, and three of the annual cross-tour rankings' Top-5 earners hail from the WTA.
With $8.21 million in total 2025 earnings so far, newly minted Wimbledon winner Iga Świątek came in third behind ATP Tour giants Carlos Alcaraz ($10.63 million) and Jannik Sinner ($9.04 million).
Just behind Świątek sit reigning US Open champ Aryna Sabalenka ($7.13 million) and 2025 French Open winner Coco Gauff ($5.95 million) in fourth- and fifth-place, respectively.
Even more, a total of six women's tour standouts occupy slots in the Top 10, with Mirra Andreeva ($4.15 million), Madison Keys ($3.96 million), and Jasmine Paolini ($3.79 million) joining the previously trio in that upper echelon.
The gender parity on the list is a direct result of the fact that all four of the sport's Grand Slams boast equal prize money between the men's and women's competitions — a shift that began with the 1973 US Open and saw full adoption across the quartet of tennis majors with the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.
Now approaching two decades of Grand Slam equal pay, pro tennis players enjoy one of the highest in-competition earning potentials across all women's sports.
This year's tennis prize money rankings are far from locked in, however, as the 2025 US Open steps into its second round on Wednesday — with a record-setting $90 million total purse on the line to boost players' spots on the list.
Should world No. 1 Sabalenka defend her title — or if No. 2 Świątek or No. 3 Gauff emerges victorious in the season's final Grand Slam — a WTA player could launch herself to the top of the 2025 earnings list.
World No. 75 Alexandra Eala opened her 2025 US Open campaign with a bang on Sunday, upsetting Denmark's No. 14 Clara Tauson 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13-11) to become the first-ever Filipina player to win a Grand Slam match in the Open Era.
"I'm so blessed to be the first to do this, I take so much pride in representing my country," Eala said following the victory. "It makes what I do bigger than myself."
The 2025 tennis season has been a banner year for the rising star, as a 2025 Miami Open run saw Eala defeat both 2025 Australian Open champ No. 6 Madison Keys and six-time Grand Slam winner No. 2 Iga Świątek en route to becoming the first-ever Filipina to advance to a WTA semifinal.
The 20-year-old has played professionally since graduating from Spain's Rafael Nadal Academy in 2023, with Sunday's win coming just three years after Eala claimed the 2022 US Open girls' championship.
The crowd in Queens was overwhelmingly behind their former junior champ on Sunday — a boost that Eala was quick to acknowledge in her post-match interview.
"To be Filipino is something I take so much pride in," Eala told reporters. “I don't have a home tournament, so to be able to have this community here at the US Open, I'm so grateful they made me feel like I'm home."
"This match is one for the books for me," she summed up.
Eala now moves on to the US Open's second round, hitting the court again on Wednesday against an as-yet-undetermined opponent.
How to watch the 2025 US Open
The first round of the 2025 US Open continues on Monday and Tuesday, with live coverage of the New York Grand Slam airing across ESPN platforms.
The 2025 US Open has officially landed in New York, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka looks to kick off her 2024 title defense when the main draw of the tennis season's final Grand Slam hits courts on Sunday.
The Queens-based tournament marks Sabalenka's last shot at winning a major title this season, with the three-time Slam victor falling in both the 2025 Australian Open and 2025 French Open finals as well as stumbling out of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships in the semifinal round.
With the sport's biggest payday on the line, tennis's top talent are preparing to battle Sabalenka for both hardware and the tournament's record $5 million champion's check.
Joining the 27-year-old on this year's US Open roster are reigning Wimbledon champion No. 2 Iga Świątek, 2025 French Open winner No. 3 Coco Gauff, and home-state hero and 2024 US Open runner-up No. 4 Jessica Pegula.
With five of the WTA's Top-11 players, the US contingent is hoping the reclaim the host nation's Grand Slam trophy this year, as reigning Australian Open champ No. 6 Madison Keys, 2025 Wimbledon runner-up No. 9 Amanda Anisimova, and No. 11 Emma Navarro join Gauff and Pegula as the USA's frontrunners.
Two-time US Open winner and fan favorite No. 25 Naomi Osaka also enters the tournament as a seeded competitor for the first time since 2021, while 45-year-old icon Venus Williams will take the main-draw court for her 25th Queens Slam after headlining this year's wild card list.
How to watch the 2025 US Open
The US Open singles tournament begins on Sunday and runs through the September 6th final.
Live coverage of the New York Grand Slam will air across ESPN platforms.
Just days ahead of taking the 2025 US Open court, US tennis star Coco Gauff has reportedly parted ways with coach Matthew Daly, after he helped guide the world No. 3 to her first French Open title earlier this year.
Gauff originally hired Daly, a grip specialist, following a disappointing 2024 US Open run, ultimately finishing out the season by adding 2024 China Open and 2024 WTA Finals hardware to her trophy case.
However, despite her breakthrough performance at this year's Roland Garros, the 21-year-old has struggled with her serve this season, most recently registering 42 double faults across her three matches at the 2025 Canadian Open and 16 in her 2025 Cincinnati Open quarterfinal clash.
In Daly's absence, Gauff will still be working with longtime coach JC Faurel while also adding Gavin MacMillan to her 2025 US Open team — a biomechanics specialist who No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has credited for helping her find consistency with her serve.
"I'm very much a perfectionist type of person," Gauff recently told reporters. "So it's really nothing satisfying until you're holding the big trophy, to be honest."
Gauff's next shot at a big trophy begins on Sunday, when the main draw of the 2025 US Open — the last Grand Slam of the year — hits courts in Queens, NY.
The 2023 US Open champion will face Australia's No. 84 Ajla Tomljanović in her first-round match.
Tennis star Iga Świątek can cross another item off her bucket list, with the world No. 3 downing No. 10 Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday to clinch a spot in the 2025 Cincinnati Open final — Świątek's first-ever championship appearance at the US Open tune-up tournament.
"At the beginning, the level was pretty crazy," the six-time Grand Slam winner told reporters after Sunday's match, commending Rybakina. "But I was there to play with intensity, good quality, and I'm happy with the performance."
One of only two WTA 1000 events without a Świątek finals appearance, the annual Cincinnati Open has seen the Polish tennis star advance to the semifinals in both 2023 and 2024 — falling both times to the eventual tournament champion.
With No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Coco Gauff both making quarterfinal exits, Świątek will next face No. 9 Jasmine Paolini in Monday's final, after the Italian contender fought past No. 36 Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 in their Sunday afternoon semifinal.
Świątek last shared a finals court with Paolini at the 2024 French Open, with Świątek going on to lift her fourth Roland Garros trophy following a straight-set victory in the clash.
How to watch the 2025 Cincinnati Open final
The 2025 Cincinnati Open final between Świątek and Paolini kicks off at 6 PM ET on Monday, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.
Tennis fans saw an epic battle on Monday, as world No. 39 Emma Raducanu forced No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka into a third-set tiebreak in the third round of the 2025 Cincinnati Open.
The British 22-year-old, who burst into the sport's upper echelons by winning the 2021 US Open as an unseeded teenage qualifier, came achingly close to ousting the top-ranked three-time Grand Slam winner in a match that required more than three hours and two tie-breaks to resolve.
"She's world No. 1 for a reason, and I pushed her more than I did at Wimbledon so that's an improvement," said Raducanu, ultimately falling to the 2024 Cincinnati Open winner in Monday's narrow 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5) loss.
Clearly affected by the oppressive humidity of the southern Ohio summer, Sabalenka took risks in the match's late stages to offset her 72 unforced errors and her diminishing energy.
"At the end, I went for crazy shots," Sabalenka told the crowd following the 2025 US Open tune-up match. "I think that it was a little bit risky from me and it really helped to put a lot of pressure on her."
Along with Sabalenka, this week's Round of 16 will feature at least four other Top-10 contenders, as 2025 Australian Open victor No. 6 Madison Keys and Kazakhstan's No. 10 Elena Rybakina booked their own Round of 32 wins on Monday, while 2025 French Open champion No. 2 Coco Gauff and 2025 Wimbledon winner No. 3 Iga Świątek enjoyed extra rest as their third-round opponents withdrew due to illness and injury on Tuesday.
Hoping to join the Gauff and Keys's advancing US contingent are No. 4 Jessica Pegula and No. 35 Ashlyn Krueger, who will face Poland's No. 40 Magda Linette and Italy's No. 9 Jasmine Paolini, respectively, on Tuesday.
How to watch the Cincinnati Open
Tennis's best will keep battling for Cincy's trophy — and an edge going into the season's final Grand Slam — this week: The third round will wrap on Tuesday before the Round of 16 kicks off on Wednesday.
Live coverage of the 2025 Cincinnati Open will continue airing on the Tennis Channel.
The 2025 Canadian Open wrapped up with a storybook ending in Montréal, as 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko earned her first-ever WTA Tour title by defeating four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in Thursday's final.
"I would have never thought that I would have made it to the final, let alone win the tournament," Mboko said after battling back to take down Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. "It just proves that your dreams are closer than they [seem]."
The largely unexpected final matchup capped a 2025 Canadian Open that saw every seeded player fall, with Mboko putting together a dream run that included ousting four Grand Slam champions — Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Elena Rybakina, and Coco Gauff.
Thursday saw Mboko become just the third-ever Canadian to win the event, plus the teen phenom made tennis history as only the third wild-card entrant to ever claim victory in a WTA 1000 tournament.
As for Osaka, despite falling just short of the finish line, the 2025 Canadian Open was a distinct return to form for the fan favorite, who put together her most successful tournament run in three years in Montréal this week.
Both finalists earned a significant rankings bump with their performances this week, with Osaka rising to world No. 25 while Mboko, who started the 2025 season outside the WTA's Top 350, skyrocketed to No. 24.
Having withdrawn from the 2025 Cincinnati Open due to the near-impossible turnaround between Thursday's final in Montréal and their Saturday matches in Ohio, both Mboko and Osaka will enjoy some much-deserved rest before gearing up for the season's final Grand Slam — the 2025 US Open.
This year's US Open champions are cashing in, with the pro tennis season's final Grand Slam boosting its overall prize money by 20% — and upping the 2025 men's and women's singles winner's payout to a record $5 million each.
Total player compensation will rise to $90 million across all competitions, making the 2025 US Open the highest-paying tournament in tennis history, with its singles champions banking the biggest payday in the sport's history.
Finalists and semifinalists are also getting a bump, with this year's runners-up cashing $2.5 million checks while semifinalists will walk with $1.26 million each.
In addition, champions of the men's, women's, and mixed doubles competitions will each walk away with $1 million for the first time in US Open history.
In 2024, the New York City Slam's total purse weighed in at $75 million, with singles winners earning $3.6 million each — making this year's $5 million check a 39% raise.
Since then, 2024 US Open champ Aryna Sabalenka and others have spoken out about increasing both payments and transparency in pro tennis, with the sport's Top-20 ranked women and men reportedly co-signing a letter requesting "substantial" purse increases to all four Grand Slams this past April.
While both the French Open and Wimbledon increased this year's overall purses by 5% and 7%, respectively, the US Open "made a deliberate and concerted effort to ensure double-digit percentage increases from 2024 in all rounds of all events for all players," according to the tournament's press release.
Notably, the 2025 Australian Open increased its overall prize pool by over 11%, though that boost came before the players' letter and not all winning categories saw double-digit percentage raises.