The US Open has crowned some of the greatest women ever to pick up a tennis racquet. From the dominant champions of the tournament’s earliest decades to modern stars such as Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, winning the tournament in New York has long been one of the sport’s biggest achievements.
The women’s singles competition dates back to 1887, decades before the tournament became the US Open we recognise today. Since then, generations of champions have left their mark on the event. But who has won the most US Open women’s singles titles? Which players dominate the record books? And which Australian women have lifted the trophy?
Here, we take a closer look at the US Open women’s singles champions, from the tournament’s all-time record holders to its most recent winners.
US Open Women’s Singles Champions at a Glance 🏆
Before comparing the most successful players, there is one important distinction to understand.
The tournament existed long before the beginning of the Open Era in 1968, when Grand Slam tournaments opened their competitions to professional as well as amateur players. As a result, you will often see separate records for the entire history of the US championships and for the Open Era.
That distinction matters when answering the question: Who has won the most women’s US Open titles?
| 🎾 Player | 🏆 US singles titles | ⏳ Winning years | 🌎 Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Molla Bjurstedt Mallory | 8 | 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1926 | Norwegian-American |
| Helen Wills | 7 | 1923, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931 | American |
| Chris Evert | 6 | 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982 | American |
| Serena Williams | 6 | 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 | American |
| Margaret Court | 5 | 1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1973 | Australian |
| Steffi Graf | 5 | 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996 | German |
| Billie Jean King | 4 | 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974 | American |
| Martina Navratilova | 4 | 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987 | American |
The all-time record belongs to Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, who won eight women's singles championships between 1915 and 1926.
For the Open Era, Chris Evert and Serena Williams share the women's record with six titles each. That makes the answer to “Who has the most US Open women’s titles?” dependent on whether you mean the tournament’s entire history or the modern Open Era.
The Most Successful Women’s US Open Champions 👑
Winning one Grand Slam is difficult enough. Winning repeatedly at the same tournament puts a player into an even more exclusive group. Over the history of the US championships, several women have dominated New York for years at a time.
Some players achieved their records during the amateur era, while others competed after tennis became fully professional. Conditions have also changed dramatically, from venues and equipment to playing surfaces and training methods.
For that reason, comparing title totals across generations does not necessarily tell us who was the “best” player. It does, however, reveal which women enjoyed extraordinary success at this particular tournament.
Molla Bjurstedt Mallory: The All-Time Record Holder 🇳🇴
Molla Bjurstedt Mallory may not be as familiar to modern tennis fans as Serena Williams or Steffi Graf, but her place in US Open history is unmatched.
Born in Norway and later representing the United States, Mallory won eight US women’s singles championships, an all-time tournament record. Her victories came in: 🏆 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922 and 1926.
That run included four consecutive championships from 1915 to 1918, followed by another three successive victories between 1920 and 1922.
Perhaps the most remarkable part of Mallory’s record was the longevity of her success. She won her eighth and final championship in 1926 at the age of 42 and remains the oldest singles champion recorded by the tournament.
Her titles came well before the beginning of the Open Era, so Mallory’s record is generally described as the all-time women’s singles record, while separate statistics are used when discussing the Open Era.
Chris Evert and Serena Williams: The Open Era Record Holders 🇺🇸
The modern US Open has two women at the top of its singles record book:
Chris Evert
6 wins
Serena Williams
6 wins
Chris Evert
Few players have been as consistently successful in New York as Chris Evert. The American won four US Open titles in succession from 1975 to 1978, before adding further championships in 1980 and 1982.
Her run of four consecutive titles is particularly impressive because those victories spanned an important period in the tournament’s development.
Evert ultimately finished with six US Open singles trophies, establishing an Open Era record that would stand alone until Serena Williams matched it decades later.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams won her first US Open singles title in 1999, when she was still a teenager. It proved to be just the beginning. She returned to win in: 🏆 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Her final three championships came consecutively, giving Williams six titles in total and drawing her level with Evert for the most women's singles crowns in the Open Era.
Williams' longevity is particularly striking: 15 years separated her first championship in 1999 and her sixth in 2014. Although she came close to claiming a seventh title, she never surpassed the shared Open Era record.
Other Great Multiple US Open Champions 🎾
Evert, Williams and Mallory sit at the very top of the rankings, but they are far from the only women to have built exceptional records in New York.
Helen Wills
Helen Wills was one of the dominant players of the 1920s and early 1930s. She collected seven US singles championships, putting her just one title behind Mallory's all-time record. Her victories came between 1923 and 1931, placing her among the most successful players in the history of the event.
Margaret Court
Australia's Margaret Court won five US singles championships: in 1962, 1965, 1969, 1970 and 1973. Her career also straddled the amateur and Open eras, giving her a particularly interesting place in tournament history.
Court's 1970 US Open victory was especially significant. It completed her calendar-year Grand Slam after she had already won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon that season.
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf also won the US Open five times, triumphing in 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995 and 1996.
Her 1988 victory formed part of one of the most celebrated seasons in tennis history, when Graf won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same calendar year. Graf became a dominant presence in New York across the late 1980s and 1990s and remains one of the most successful women's singles players of the Open Era.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King won four US singles championships, in 1967, 1971, 1972 and 1974.
Her first title came just before the Open Era began, while her remaining three were won during it. King's association with the US Open extends well beyond her record as a player. The tournament is now staged at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova collected four US Open women's singles championships in 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1987. Her victories formed part of a remarkable period of dominance during the 1980s, when Navratilova and Evert were among the defining players of women's tennis.
Australian Women Who Have Won the US Open 🇦🇺
For Australian tennis fans, two champions stand out in the history of the women's singles event: Margaret Court and Samantha Stosur.
Margaret Court's five US titles
Court is comfortably Australia's most successful women's singles player at the US championships.
Born in Albury, New South Wales, she won the title five times between 1962 and 1973. Her 1969, 1970 and 1973 victories came after the start of the Open Era. Her 1973 victory was Australia's final women's singles title in New York for almost four decades.
Then came Samantha Stosur.
Samantha Stosur's 2011 triumph
Samantha Stosur produced one of Australian tennis's most memorable Grand Slam performances at the 2011 US Open.
Facing Serena Williams in the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Stosur won 6–2, 6–3 to capture her first Grand Slam singles championship. The victory made her the first Australian woman to win the US singles title since Margaret Court in 1973.
For Stosur, who had previously reached the 2010 French Open final, the New York victory represented the biggest singles title of her career. It also gave Australian fans another name to add to the tournament's distinguished list of women's champions.
Modern US Open Women’s Champions 🏅
The women's tournament has produced an especially varied group of champions in the 21st century. Alongside Serena Williams' dominance, players including Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Naomi Osaka have won the event more than once. Recent seasons have continued to introduce new champions.
Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka won her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2018 US Open, defeating Serena Williams in the final. In doing so, she became the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles championship. She returned to win the US Open again in 2020.
Emma Raducanu
Britain's Emma Raducanu created one of the tournament's most extraordinary stories in 2021. After entering through qualifying, she went all the way to the championship and defeated Leylah Fernandez in the final. Her run made her one of the most unexpected US Open champions of the modern era.
Iga Świątek and Coco Gauff
Poland's Iga Świątek added the US Open to her Grand Slam résumé in 2022.
A year later, American teenager Coco Gauff won the 2023 US Open, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final to claim her first major singles title. Gauff has since gone on to win another Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros.
Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka broke through for her first US Open title in 2024, defeating Jessica Pegula in the women's final.
Sabalenka successfully defended the championship in 2025, making her the first woman since Serena Williams in 2014 to win consecutive US Open women's singles titles.
As of August 2026, Sabalenka is therefore the most recent completed US Open women's singles champion, with the 2026 tournament yet to determine its winner.
US Open Women’s Singles Winners in the Open Era
Here is the complete list of women's singles champions since the beginning of the Open Era in 1968.
| 🎾 Year | 🏆 Champion | 🌎 Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Virginia Wade | British |
| 1969 | Margaret Court | Australian |
| 1970 | Margaret Court | Australian |
| 1971 | Billie Jean King | American |
| 1972 | Billie Jean King | American |
| 1973 | Margaret Court | Australian |
| 1974 | Billie Jean King | American |
| 1975 | Chris Evert | American |
| 1976 | Chris Evert | American |
| 1977 | Chris Evert | American |
| 1978 | Chris Evert | American |
| 1979 | Tracy Austin | American |
| 1980 | Chris Evert | American |
| 1981 | Tracy Austin | American |
| 1982 | Chris Evert | American |
| 1983 | Martina Navratilova | American |
| 1984 | Martina Navratilova | American |
| 1985 | Hana Mandlíková | Czechoslovak |
| 1986 | Martina Navratilova | American |
| 1987 | Martina Navratilova | American |
| 1988 | Steffi Graf | West German |
| 1989 | Steffi Graf | West German |
| 1990 | Gabriela Sabatini | Argentinian |
| 1991 | Monica Seles | Yugoslav |
| 1992 | Monica Seles | Yugoslav |
| 1993 | Steffi Graf | German |
| 1994 | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Spanish |
| 1995 | Steffi Graf | German |
| 1996 | Steffi Graf | German |
| 1997 | Martina Hingis | Swiss |
| 1998 | Lindsay Davenport | American |
| 1999 | Serena Williams | American |
| 2000 | Venus Williams | American |
| 2001 | Venus Williams | American |
| 2002 | Serena Williams | American |
| 2003 | Justine Henin-Hardenne | Belgian |
| 2004 | Svetlana Kuznetsova | Russian |
| 2005 | Kim Clijsters | Belgian |
| 2006 | Maria Sharapova | Russian |
| 2007 | Justine Henin | Belgian |
| 2008 | Serena Williams | American |
| 2009 | Kim Clijsters | Belgian |
| 2010 | Kim Clijsters | Belgian |
| 2011 | Samantha Stosur | Australian |
| 2012 | Serena Williams | American |
| 2013 | Serena Williams | American |
| 2014 | Serena Williams | American |
| 2015 | Flavia Pennetta | Italian |
| 2016 | Angelique Kerber | German |
| 2017 | Sloane Stephens | American |
| 2018 | Naomi Osaka | Japanese |
| 2019 | Bianca Andreescu | Canadian |
| 2020 | Naomi Osaka | Japanese |
| 2021 | Emma Raducanu | British |
| 2022 | Iga Świątek | Polish |
| 2023 | Coco Gauff | American |
| 2024 | Aryna Sabalenka | Belarusian |
| 2025 | Aryna Sabalenka | Belarusian |
From Evert's four consecutive championships in the 1970s to Sabalenka's back-to-back victories in 2024 and 2025, the list shows just how many different generations have made their mark in New York.
And while records are an important part of the tournament's story, each champion has contributed something different to the US Open.
To discover how the competition itself developed from the early US National Championships into today's Grand Slam spectacle, explore our history of the US Open. For an overview of the tournament, its format and what to expect each year, see our complete guide to the US Open.
And if you want to compare the records on the other side of the draw, discover the US Open men's singles champions throughout history.
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