Preview: Venus Williams vs. Sofia Kenin - US Open prediction, form

Competing in what could be her final US Open singles match, Venus Williams will hope to pull off a big upset on Sunday as she faces Sofia Kenin for the first time.

The two-time winner of this event, Williams, who earned a wild card berth in the tournament this year, lost in her opening 2025 singles match at Flushing Meadows in three sets against Karolina Muchova, as did fellow wild card entrant Kenin, who was beaten by Ashlyn Krueger.

Match preview

Her addition to this tournament has been met with widespread criticism, but Venus Williams will aim to prove she still belongs among the top women, beginning this weekend.

At 46, many believe she is well past her prime and a shadow of the player who captured five Grand Slam singles titles in the first five years of this century.

On Sunday, she can end a lengthy losing streak on the singles tour of over a dozen matches and advance into the second round of a US Open singles event for the first time since 2019.

Not since the 2021 edition of Wimbledon has the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion advanced beyond round one at a major tournament, while winning just one of her last nine opening round sets at Flushing Meadows on the singles draw.

Williams will seek her first Grand Slam singles triumph on a hard court surface since 2021 this weekend, defeating Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets at the Australian Open five years ago.

So far this year, the iconic American has won 59% of her service games and just 16.1% of her return games across all surfaces.

Another lady struggling, though perhaps not quite as badly as Williams, is Sofia Kenin, who will hope to recapture the form we saw from her at the start of this decade.

Kenin, who made two Grand Slam singles finals in 2020, winning the Australian Open that year, has exited in round one in three of her last four major singles tournaments.

She can make the second round of the US Open for a third time in her last four appearances on Sunday, though she has never advanced beyond round two this decade.

This aggressive and powerful player has been eliminated from two of her last three opening matches on the singles tour, all of which were on the hard court.

The 27-year-old born in Russia has gone on to win two of her last three Grand Slam singles affairs after capturing the opening set but squandered a one-set advantage in round one of this tournament a year ago.

In 2026 she has won 65.7% of her service games and converted 44.2% of her break point opportunities across all surfaces.

We say: Kenin to win in two sets

Venus Williams will go down as one of the greats on the women’s draw, but her form speaks for itself, and it is difficult to fathom she can suddenly turn back the clock and display the kind of power and all-court presence from decades ago and also defeat even a struggling Kenin.