The US Open has been contested since 1881 — long enough for its records to accumulate into an extraordinary archive of athletic achievement, statistical curiosity, and historical context. Some of those records have stood for more than a century. Others were broken as recently as last year. Here is a complete guide to the most significant US Open records — the title leaders, the longest matches, the youngest and oldest champions, and the statistics that define how this tournament’s history has been measured.
Most Singles Titles
The headline record at every Grand Slam is the title count, and the US Open’s roll of honour features some of the most decorated players in tennis history.
Women’s Singles
Chris Evert and Serena Williams share the Open Era women’s record with six singles titles each.
- Chris Evert: 6 titles (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982)
- Serena Williams: 6 titles (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014)
- Steffi Graf: 5 titles (1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996)
- Martina Navratilova: 4 titles (1983, 1984, 1986, 1987)
- Margaret Court: 4 Open Era titles (1969, 1970, 1973) plus one prior to 1968
If pre-Open Era records are included, Molla Bjurstedt Mallory holds the all-time record with eight singles titles between 1915 and 1926 — the longest-standing women’s record at any Grand Slam.
Men’s Singles
Three players share the Open Era men’s record with five titles each:
- Jimmy Connors: 5 titles (1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983)
- Pete Sampras: 5 titles (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002)
- Roger Federer: 5 titles (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
- Novak Djokovic: 4 titles (2011, 2015, 2018, 2023)
- John McEnroe: 4 titles (1979, 1980, 1981, 1984)
- Rafael Nadal: 4 titles (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019)
- Ivan Lendl: 3 titles (1985, 1986, 1987)
In the pre-Open Era, three players each won seven US National Championship titles: Richard Sears (1881-1887), William Larned (1901-1911), and Bill Tilden (1920-1929) — records set under competitive conditions that no longer exist in modern tennis.
Most Finals Reached
Serena Williams holds the Open Era women’s record with 10 US Open singles finals reached between 1999 and 2019 — winning six and losing four. Novak Djokovic holds the Open Era men’s record with 10 US Open singles finals reached between 2007 and 2023 — winning four and losing six. The fact that Djokovic has lost more US Open finals than he has won, despite reaching the most finals of any man in the tournament’s Open Era history, is one of the more remarkable statistical asymmetries in modern tennis.
Most Consecutive Titles
Roger Federer holds the Open Era men’s record with five consecutive US Open titles between 2004 and 2008 — one of the most dominant sustained runs in modern Grand Slam history. He matched the pre-Open Era consecutive record set by Richard Sears, who won seven in a row from 1881 to 1887 under the now-abolished challenge-round system.
In women’s singles, Chris Evert holds the Open Era record with four consecutive titles from 1975 to 1978 — a feat she accomplished across two surfaces, winning three on clay (1975-1977) and one on hard courts in 1978, the first year at Flushing Meadows.
Aryna Sabalenka joined the back-to-back winners list at the 2025 US Open, becoming the first woman to win consecutive US Open titles since Serena Williams in 2013 and 2014.
The Only Player to Win on Three Surfaces
Jimmy Connors is the only player in history to have won the US Open on three different surfaces — grass at Forest Hills in 1974, clay at Forest Hills in 1976, and hard courts at Flushing Meadows in 1978, 1982, and 1983. His five US Open titles span all three eras of the tournament’s surface history and stand as a testament to an adaptability that no other player has matched at this venue.
Chris Evert is the only player to have won the US Open on two surfaces — clay in 1975, 1976, and 1977, and hard courts in 1978, 1980, and 1982. Her 1978 title makes her both the last US Open clay-court champion and the first US Open hard-court champion in successive years.
The Longest Match
The longest match in US Open history is Daniel Evans’s first-round victory over Karen Khachanov at the 2024 US Open: a 5-hour, 35-minute marathon that Evans won 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. The result was notable as much for the unfortunate setting as the duration — a first-round opening day match between two players ranked outside the top 20, decided after more than five and a half hours on Court 17.
The match broke a record that had stood for 32 years: the 1992 semi-final between Stefan Edberg and Michael Chang, which lasted 5 hours and 26 minutes. Edberg won 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in what was, at the time, the longest match in Open Era history — Edberg’s third consecutive five-set match of the tournament. He went on to defeat Pete Sampras in the final for his second US Open title.
The longest women’s match in US Open history (by games played) occurred in 1898, before the institution of tiebreakers, when Juliette Atkinson defeated Marion Jones in a five-set match that extended to 51 games.
Youngest and Oldest Champions
The age records at the US Open span more than 25 years between the youngest and oldest singles winners.
Youngest Champions
- Men’s Singles: Pete Sampras, 19 years and 28 days old when he won the 1990 US Open, defeating Andre Agassi in the final. Sampras’s victory remains the youngest men’s singles championship in Open Era history.
- Women’s Singles: Tracy Austin, 16 years, 8 months, and 28 days old when she won the 1979 US Open, defeating Chris Evert in the final. Austin’s record has stood for nearly 50 years.
Oldest Champions
- Men’s Singles: William Larned, 38 years, 8 months, and 3 days old when he won the 1911 US National Championships — a pre-Open Era record that has never been challenged in the modern game.
- Women’s Singles: Maud Barger-Wallach, 38 years old when she won the 1908 US National Championships.
In the Open Era specifically, the oldest men’s singles champion is Ken Rosewall, who won the 1970 US Open at age 35 (the only Open Era US Open champion over 35). The oldest Open Era women’s singles champion is Serena Williams, who won her sixth and final title in 2014 at age 32.
Most Doubles Titles
The doubles records at the US Open span partnerships, individuals, and decades.
Margaret Osborne duPont holds the all-time women’s doubles record with an extraordinary 13 titles between 1941 and 1957 — most of them won partnering Louise Brough. The Brough-duPont partnership won 12 US Open doubles titles together, the most successful doubles team in the tournament’s history.
Richard Sears holds the men’s all-time doubles record with six titles, also winning seven singles titles for a combined 13 US Open championships — all between 1881 and 1887.
In the Open Era, the most successful men’s doubles partnerships have been Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan with five titles together (2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014), and on the women’s side Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver with nine titles between 1983 and 1989.
In mixed doubles, Margaret Osborne duPont holds the all-time women’s record with nine titles. Among men, multiple players have won four mixed doubles titles, including Bill Tilden, Owen Davidson, and Marty Riessen.
Career Total Titles Across All Divisions
The records for total US Open titles across all formats (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) reflect the multi-discipline reach of certain players’ careers.
- Margaret Osborne duPont: 25 titles (3 singles, 13 doubles, 9 mixed)
- Bill Tilden: 16 titles (7 singles, 5 doubles, 4 mixed)
Both records were set in eras when leading singles players routinely entered the doubles and mixed doubles competitions as well — a practice less common in modern professional tennis, where physical demands and scheduling tend to discourage multi-event entry by top singles players.
Most Years Seeded
Jimmy Connors was seeded at the US Open for 18 consecutive years, from 1972 to 1989 — the longest seeded run in the tournament’s history.
Martina Navratilova was seeded at the US Open for 19 consecutive years, from 1975 to 1993 — the longest seeded run of any player in tournament history across men’s or women’s singles.
Other Notable Records
A selection of further US Open records that have shaped the tournament’s history:
First Open Era champions: Arthur Ashe (1968 men’s singles) and Virginia Wade (1968 women’s singles) were the first US Open champions of the Open Era. Ashe was unable to collect the $14,000 winners’ prize because he was still classified as an amateur — the runner-up, Tom Okker, received the cheque instead.
First Black male champion: Arthur Ashe in 1968 — also the first African American man to win any Grand Slam singles title.
First Black female champion: Althea Gibson in 1957 (then known as the US National Championships) — also the first Black player of either gender to win the US National Championships.
First sister vs sister Grand Slam final: The 2001 US Open women’s singles final between Venus Williams and Serena Williams — the first time two sisters had ever contested a Grand Slam final. The match was moved to a Saturday prime-time slot in recognition of its cultural significance, permanently changing the television scheduling of women’s tennis.
Most US Open match wins (Open Era): Various sources differ on the exact career match-win totals, but Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, and Serena Williams are all among the leaders with 90+ career main-draw match wins at the US Open.
Most aces in a single match: John Isner has hit more than 60 aces in multiple US Open matches across his career, though no single match has approached the 113 aces he served against Mahut at the 2010 Wimbledon.
The Bottom Line
The US Open’s records form a layered archive across nearly 150 years of competition — some set in the 19th century by players competing under rules that no longer exist, others set in the past few years by athletes whose performances are still being measured against the records they themselves set. The five singles titles of Connors, Sampras, Federer, Evert, and Williams; the 5-hour, 35-minute Evans-Khachanov marathon; the 19-year-old Pete Sampras of 1990 — each is a marker in the tournament’s collective memory, and each contributes to what makes the US Open, in record-book terms as in every other, one of the most historically dense tournaments in tennis.
