Three players will break new ground at the 2023 US Open by contesting the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time. Get to know them here.
Fiona Crawley (USA)
In an interview with the New York Times in May, Fiona Crawley said that her tennis plan after graduating from the University of North Carolina is to get her "butt kicked on tour for two years, because I love to travel" and then becoming a teacher.
A wrinkle has developed in that plan at this week's US Open qualifying, though. Crawley -- the No.1 player in NCAA Division I, and an English and comparative literature major -- has been the one doing the butt-kicking. A wild card ranked No.731, the 21-year-old American held firm in two consecutive match tiebreaks to edge Reka Luca Jani 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-6[6], saving two match points along the way, then Timea Babos 6-2, 3-6, 7-6[5]. In the final round, Crawley dismissed No.13 seed Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 6-3.
What a rally from 🇺🇸Fiona Crawley. 💪 pic.twitter.com/zCvVrowooj
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 26, 2023
The US Open is just the fifth pro tournament of Crawley's season. She made her tour-level debut as a wild card in Charleston, falling to Alizé Cornet in a first-round loss that was not as one-sided as the 6-0, 6-2 scoreline might suggest. In June, she reached her first ITF final as a qualifier at the Wichita W25. Crawley will open against former Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Clervie Ngounoue (USA)
Born in Washington, D.C. to Cameroonian parents in 2006, Clervie Ngounoue has long been regarded as a rising star of American tennis. She reached the final of prestigious U14 tournament Les Petits As in 2020, losing to frequent junior rival Brenda Fruhvirtova. She collected two junior Grand Slam doubles titles over the past two years, at the 2022 Australian Open with Diana Shnaider and at Roland Garros 2023 with Tyra Caterina Grant, ascending to No.1 in the junior rankings in June.
Ngounoue capped a stellar junior career with the girls' singles crown at Wimbledon this year without dropping a set, showing off an irresistible blend of power and touch along the way. She also took the title at the USTA Girls' 18s National Championships this month, earning her a main-draw wild card to the US Open -- which will also be her tour-level debut.
The 17-year-old now has her sights set on transitioning to the pros. In her first tournament after Wimbledon, she scored her first Top 50 win over Anna Blinkova in Washington qualifying, and she now sits at No.531 in the WTA rankings. Ngounoue has already played in Flushing Meadows as a qualifying wild card in 2021, falling 6-4, 6-3 to Mayar Sherif in the first round; this year, she will take on Daria Saville in her opener. A potential second-round tie with World No.1 Iga Swiatek could await.
Tatiana Prozorova
Contesting her first ever Grand Slam qualifying event, 19-year-old Tatiana Prozorova has navigated through to the main draw the hard way. She came through a seesaw opener against Yuliya Hatouka 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, then came from a break down in the decider to edge Iryna Shymanovich 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours and 41 minutes.
No.229-ranked Prozorova's final qualifying round was the wildest ride, though. Against former Roland Garros semifinalist Tamara Zidansek, she saved eight set points in the first set and one match point in the third before triumphing 7-6(11), 3-6, 7-6[8] in 3 hours and 29 minutes.
Highlights: 2023 Rabat R1, Maria d. Prozorova | 2023 Palermo R1, Prozorova d. Abduraimova
A former Top 50 junior under her maiden name of Barkova, Prozorova has made a smooth transition to the pro ranks over the past two years. Unranked at the end of 2021, she finished 2022 at No.388 and this year, she has continued to hit milestones. In May, she qualified for her first WTA main draw in Rabat, pushing Tatjana Maria to three sets in the first round, and followed that with a maiden ITF W60 title in Madrid. In July, she won her first tour-level match in Palermo over Nigina Abduraimova, and a successful Grand Slam qualifying debut takes her overall season record to 34-18.
In the first round, Prozorova will play the highest-profile match of her career to date as she takes on former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, who is playing the third tournament of her comeback from maternity leave.
Previously:
Wimbledon 2023's Grand Slam debuts: Naef, Stevanovic, Bai and more
Roland Garros 2023's Grand Slam debuts: Mirra Andreeva, Waltert, Shymanovich
Australian Open 2023's Grand Slam debuts: Shnaider, Grabher, Brenda Fruhvirtova and more
US Open 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Linda Fruhvirtova, Bejlek, Erika Andreeva and more
Wimbledon 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Chwalinska, Pigossi, Yuan and more
Roland Garros 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Noskova, Niemeier, Jeanjean and more
Australian Open 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Zheng Qinwen, Bondar, Bronzetti and more
US Open 2021's Grand Slam debuts: Parrizas Diaz, Parks, Masarova and more
Wimbledon 2021's Grand Slam debuts: Raducanu, Burrage
Roland Garros 2021's Grand Slam debuts: Osorio, Liang, Gorgodze and more
Australian Open 2021's Grand Slam debuts: Danilovic, Jones
Roland Garros 2020's Grand Slam debuts: Tauson, Sherif, Rakhimova and more
US Open 2020's Grand Slam debuts: Gracheva, Montgomery, Korpatsch and more
Australian Open 2020's Grand Slam debuts: Fernandez, Trevisan, Cocciaretto and more
US Open 2019's Grand Slam debuts: Wang Xiyu, Volynets, Bolkvadze
Wimbledon 2019's Grand Slam debuts: Gauff, McNally, Flink
Roland Garros 2019's Grand Slam debuts: Rybakina, Samsonova, Parry and more
Australian Open 2019's Grand Slam debuts: Swiatek, Badosa, Veronika Kudermetova and more
US Open 2018's Grand Slam debuts: Teichmann, Yastremska, Bouzkova and more
Wimbledon 2018's Grand Slam debuts: Ruse, Dart, Lapko and more
Roland Garros 2018's Grand Slam debuts: Krejcikova, Dolehide, Jakupovic and more
Australian Open 2018's Grand Slam debuts: Kostyuk, Pera, Wang Xinyu and more
