Six Women to Watch at the US Open, and What They Will Be Wearing

The fall league emails started landing last week, which in Stark County means the season has turned even if the thermometer has not caught up. For the next two weeks the television is going to be on in the background of every one of those mornings.

The US Open is the loudest of the four majors and it dresses like it. Wimbledon asks for white and rewards restraint. Roland Garros gives everyone a clay-colored hem by the second week whether they wanted one or not. New York asks for nothing, which is exactly why it gets the boldest clothes of the year.

I watch these two weeks for the tennis and, honestly, just as much for the clothes. Four different women have won the last four majors and two of them had never won one before, so the draw is genuinely open. Here are the six I’ll be watching, what each of them is playing in, and what we have on the shelves that gets you close without a Grand Slam budget.

01 · Aryna Sabalenka

WTA No. 1 · Belarus

She’s held world No. 1 for more than a hundred weeks and won the last two US Opens. Nobody in this draw is playing for more, because a third straight title in New York puts her in company almost nobody keeps.

Her season has been odd in a specific way. Brisbane, then Indian Wells and Miami back to back, and still no major since last September. Flushing Meadows is where she’s happiest, and she knows it.

What she is wearingNike. She’s in black and red, with mesh panels across the front and cut-outs at the waist. Nike went with a basketball theme this year, so there’s netting all through the collection and a lot more skin showing than Wimbledon would ever allow. People are split on it. At this tournament that usually means it worked.

Get the look

The mesh, made wearable

You don’t need the cut-outs to get the idea. Our Modernized Pleated Skirt in white ($78) has tulle set into the pleats, which is the same trick for a lot less money.

Modernized Pleated Skirt, White$78Tulle set into the pleats. The look, without the Grand Slam price.Compression Rib Tank, White$68The clean white top that lets the skirt do the talking.Ame & Lulu Warmup Pullover, Navy$132The sweater you’ll actually reach for when it cools off.

02 · Elena Rybakina

WTA No. 2 · Kazakhstan

She won the Australian Open in January, beating both the world No. 1 and the world No. 2 on the way, and she leads the tour in prize money and in points earned this season. She sits a few hundred points off the top spot.

Hers is the most economical tennis in the top ten. A serve that ends points before they start, flat groundstrokes, no wasted motion. If you’ve ever played someone who just doesn’t give you anything to work with, you know the feeling.

What she is wearingYonex. A one-shoulder dress with the seams running on the diagonal, which also happens to be where the venting is. On a player who takes every ball at an angle, a lopsided neckline is funny in the right way.

Get the look

Asymmetry, off duty

The Asymmetrical Flounce Skort in powder blue ($78) does the same thing from the waist down, one hem sitting higher than the other. We’re down to one size, so it’s not a sleep-on-it piece.

Chevron Tie-Back Tank, Lavender$65Chevron seams on the diagonal, open tie at the back.Asymmetrical Flounce Skort, Powder Blue$78One hem higher than the other. Same idea as her dress, from the waist down. Only M left.Sol & Selene Match Point Sling$80Quilted sling in cream or hot pink. Fits a paddle and your phone and not much else, which is the point.

03 · Jessica Pegula

WTA No. 3 · United States

A New Yorker back at world No. 3, arriving off one of the best hard-court months in the field. She ended Iga Świątek’s title defense in the Cincinnati semifinals and went through to the final, the first all-American women’s final there in fifty-six years.

Pegula has spent years being called consistent, which is a slightly backhanded way of saying she beats almost everyone and never makes a fuss about it. Every league I’ve played in has one of her. This time the home crowd will make the noise for her.

What she is wearingAdidas. This is the one I most want to see in person. They built it around nineties New York nightlife, so there’s satin and lace worked into the performance fabric, a few cut-outs, a bubble hem, and a white, dusty pink and maroon palette. Adidas hasn’t put anything this fashion-forward on a tennis court in years.

Get the look

Nineties pink, satin included

Her exact pink lives in our Glow Stroke Skirt ($78). And if you want the real satin, the Runway short set ($69) is the same reference for the part of the day when nobody’s keeping score.

Glow Stroke Skirt, Shocking Pink$78A pleat wrap in exactly her pink. Three sizes left.Next Level Icon Dress, Pink$98Icon print in pink. The closest thing we carry to a night out.Satin Short Set, Runway Athletics$69Real satin, for the hours when nobody’s keeping score.

04 · Coco Gauff

WTA No. 4 · United States

She won this tournament at nineteen and has added a Roland Garros title since. This month she took Cincinnati, beating Pegula in the final for her second title there, so she arrives playing well and carrying the loudest two weeks of anyone’s season.

Gauff is one of the few players whose clothes get written about as seriously as her forehand, and she’s been deliberate about that. What she wears walking on is part of the show.

What she is wearingNew Balance. At Wimbledon she wore a pleated skirt with a razor-back crop and it was one of the best looks of the two weeks. For New York they made her a whole city collection: the same skirt cut a little quieter, plus new colors of her own shoe. Preppy, with the edges sharpened.

Get the look

Prep, sharpened

If you have a fall league schedule, this is the most wearable section on the page. The Retro Tiered Pleated Skort in white ($88) is the shape New Balance keeps coming back to, and the Peek-a-Boo Pullover ($89) has a printed lining in the collar you only notice when she reaches for a towel.

Retro Tiered Pleated Skort, White$88Tiered pleats, the shape New Balance keeps coming back to.Preppy Peek-a-Boo Pullover$89Easy knit with the collar showing. Preppy, the way she does it.Runway Athletics Quilted Tote$140Big enough for the whole outfit and the shoes.

05 · Iga Świątek

WTA No. 8 · Poland

Six majors, including the Wimbledon title she took in straight sets last summer and lost this July in the third round. She has slipped to eighth, which for most players would be a fine season and for her counts as a problem to solve.

She arrives with more to prove than anyone ranked above her, and a 2022 title here as a reminder of what these courts can do for her.

What she is wearingOn. The Swiss brand has gone all in on ombre this year. Hers is a top and skirt that carry the fade from the shoulder right down through the hem. Nobody else on tour is using color like this, and after a season of white and navy it’s a relief to look at.

Get the look

The gradient, in one piece

The Next Level Ombre Dress in Ice ($119) is the closest thing we have to what she’s playing in: ice blue at the shoulder, deep ocean teal by the hem. One of each size left, which is the honest math of a small shop.

Next Level Ombre Dress, Ice$119Ice blue at the shoulder, deep teal by the hem. Closest thing we have to her kit. One of each size left.Sunrise Quarter-Zip Pullover, Lilac$100The same soft-to-deep fade, in something you can throw on.

06 · Alexandra Eala

WTA No. 20 · Philippines

She beat the defending champion in the third round at Wimbledon and became the first Filipina in the Open Era to reach the second week of a major. She’s ranked twentieth and climbing, and she’s beaten more top players this season than that number suggests.

Nobody in this draw is carrying a country the way she is. The Philippines has never had a player at this level, and New York crowds have always adopted exactly this kind of story. I think she’s the one you’ll end up texting your doubles partner about.

What she is wearingNike. At Wimbledon she wore a V-neck mini with cap sleeves and an open back, one of the quieter looks of the two weeks and one of the best cut. For New York she’s in royal blue with mesh panels, a color almost nobody else in the women’s draw is wearing.

Get the look

Blue, and a back worth turning for

Our Ashby Dress in blue (from $89) is cotton pique in that same blue nobody uses, and the Rib Tank with Ruffled Cap Sleeve ($67) borrows the sleeve from her Wimbledon dress. That tank is the one I keep recommending. It goes under everything and still looks put together on its own.

Club and Court Ashby Dress, BlueFrom $89Cotton pique, in the blue nobody else is wearing.Rib Tank with Ruffled Cap Sleeve$67The cap sleeve from her Wimbledon dress, in all four sizes.Courtgirl Game On Travel Pouch$48Navy canvas. Holds everything a long day courtside needs.

Also arriving

One more name, and the one most likely to make this list look short. Mirra Andreeva won Roland Garros in June at nineteen, the youngest champion in Paris since Świątek in 2020. She is ranked fifth, she wears Nike, and she will be in the same New York collection as Sabalenka.

Four things New York will look like

The pleat, re-cut

Nobody is giving up the pleated skirt, but everybody is changing its proportions. New Balance narrowed the pleat. Nike stacked two tiers with finer pleating underneath. Adidas puffed the hem into a bubble. The shape that has carried tennis for a century is getting rebuilt an inch at a time, which is good news if you already own three of them.

Mesh and metal

Nike built its whole New York collection around basketball, and on the women’s side that turned into open mesh, netting and metallic silver. It’s the loudest the brand has been at a major in years, and it has already started an argument, which is usually the point.

The archive raid

Adidas brought three archive-inspired collections to the American hard courts. Wilson called its collection Always New York. New Balance built a city range. Nineties nostalgia is doing most of the design work this season, and it’s working because the references are specific instead of vague.

Cooling you can see

The cooling has stopped hiding. Adidas put raised airflow structures into its Wimbledon kit, Lululemon has been testing a sweat-concealing fabric on tour, and Yonex is using those diagonal seams as vents as well as decoration. Anyone who’s played a 90-degree Ohio afternoon in the wrong fabric knows why this matters more than it sounds.

And the one everybody watches anyway: Naomi Osaka

Ranked thirteenth and still the most photographed woman at every major she plays. At Wimbledon she walked on in a layered kimono robe made from vintage bridal fabric, then took it off to show a Nike dress trimmed in raised floral rosettes.

New York goes metallic. A silver and black skirt with mesh underneath, a sleeveless dress with a stand collar and a half-zip front, two tiers of pleating with the finer pleats below, and an oversized bomber with a ruffle at the shoulder.

Get the look

Metallic, half-zip, done

The Pleated Skirt in powder blue metallic ($88) is basically her whole look in one skirt, and our Nike Dri-FIT half-zip ($100) is her layer with our label on it.

Pleated Skirt, Powder Blue Metallic$88A metallic pleat. Her whole look, in one skirt.Nike Dri-FIT ½-Zip Cover-Up$100Her half-zip, our label on it.Fitted Tennis Sweater, Black Knit$129The black half of her silver and black.

What ties all of this together is that tennis clothing has stopped apologizing for being clothing. The pleated skirt is getting redrawn instead of replaced. The white set is a starting point now rather than a rule. The cooling tech has turned into decoration. Every one of those choices was made by someone who knows the outfit gets photographed more than the forehand does.

The good news for the rest of us is that these shapes translate. A narrow pleat, a razor-back crop, a white set with the right trim, a bag that carries the whole thing to lunch afterward. That has always been the argument for tennis as a wardrobe rather than a uniform, and this season makes it easier than usual.

Most of what’s above came to us in single-digit quantities. When the ice ombre dress sells out in your size, it’s gone, and I’d rather tell you that now than after. You can see everything new in New Arrivals.

And if you’re watching these two weeks thinking your own court wardrobe needs a rethink before fall league starts, that’s a real conversation and I’d love to have it with you. Book a free 15-minute Society Stylist session and we’ll build it together, piece by piece.

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