As the 2025 edition of the US Open gets underway this week in New York City, let's recognize the five most dominant single-year performances in the event’s history.
We picked a performance from each era of the tournament’s history since it assumed its current women’s format in 1919: 1) pre-World War II; 2) the post-World War II era when the event was played on grass; 3) the clay-court years in the mid-1970s; 4) hard-court events with the original Louis Armstrong Stadium as the main show court; and 5) the current era since the construction of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Only the 21 players who won the event without losing a set were eligible for consideration. We also looked at the highest percentage of total games won and the fewest “overtime” sets (needing seven games or more to win a set).
Who were the five most dominant women’s US Open champions?
Pre-World War II era – Helen Wills Moody, 1929
Wills Moody won the US championship seven times in all, and she did it four times without losing a set. Her tour de force was her march to the 1929 title. Wills Moody won a "no that's not a typo" 72 of 80 total games (90 percent), an average match score of 6-0 6-1 for the entire tournament. She won eight of her 12 sets by a 6-0 score, with double-bagel victories in the first round, third round, and semifinals.
Post-World War II grass-court era – Margaret Court, 1969
Court set the stage for her calendar-year Grand Slam in 1970 with the most dominant of her five US titles in the fall of 1969. Court didn’t drop a set in six matches and won 79.2 percent of her total games. She won a set by a score of 6-0 in each of her first five matches. Court went on to win the next five majors, tying a record by winning six Grand Slam events in a row.
Clay-court era – Chris Evert, 1976
Evert won all three of the US Opens played on clay in the mid-1970s. Her 1976 title was the most impressive of the trifecta. Evert won all 12 of the sets she played, with no set closer than 6-3. She won 85.7 percent of her total games, the best percentage of the Open era.
That’s an average match score of 6-1 6-1. She served up five bagels, including a 6-0 second set of the championship match against Evonne Goolagong.
Armstrong Stadium era – Martina Navratilova, 1983
Navratilova claimed her first US Open title and completed the career Grand Slam with the most impressive title run of the tournament’s Armstrong Stadium era. Navratilova became the first women’s player to win seven US Open matches without needing to win more than six games in any set.
She won 81.6 percent of her total games, the best of any player who won the tournament between 1978 and 1995. Navratilova won eight sets by a score of 6-0 or 6-1, including the first set of the final against Chris Evert.
Ashe Stadium era – Serena Williams, 2014
Williams’ final US Open title - one of six U.S. Opens she won on her way to 23 total majors - was arguably her most impressive. Williams didn’t drop a set, and she didn’t need to win more than six games in any of them.
Williams won 72.4 percent of her total games, besting the percentage for the other two US Open champions of the last 30 years who won the title without being extended past six games won in any set (Venus Williams in 2001 and Emma Raducanu in 2021).
Honorable mention to Martina Hingis’ 1997 title run (75.2 percent of games won, but a 7-5 score in the first set in the third round) and Serena’s performance in 2002 (74.5 percent of games won, but pushed to a 7-5 set in the semifinals against Lindsay Davenport).als against Lindsay Davenport).