2009 US Open – Women's Singles second round. This was also the final Grand Slam singles appearance of Ai Sugiyama, who was on a record-breaking 62nd consecutive Grand Slam singles appearance, lost in the first round to Samantha Stosur. Sugiyama's record-breaking run of 62 consecutive Grand Slam singles appearances remains unbeaten as of 2019. Dinara Safina "(Third round)" 2009 US Open – Women's Singles Serena Williams was the defending champion, but was defeated in the semifinals by the eventual champion Kim Clijsters. Clijsters defeated first time Grand Slam finalist Caroline Wozniacki in the final to win her second US Open title. Clijsters became the first unseeded
2018 US Open – Women's Singles final as an example of double standards between men and women in tennis. She alluded to her actions being part of her role to stand up for women's rights and equality, and vowed to continue, a statement which drew both isolated applause and murmurs from the attendees. The on-court incidents of the second set polarised opinions among current and retired tennis players worldwide. Chris Evert (whose Open Era record of 6 US Open women's singles titles Williams would have broken had Williams won), while commentating the match for ESPN, claimed that while first and second code violations were common for similar