Venus Williams will open the 2026 U.S. Open against Sofia Kenin, a first-round draw that gives the two Americans their first career meeting. Williams, 46, is chasing her first singles win at this event since 2019, while Kenin arrives as the clear favorite.
The pairing immediately pulls attention because Williams is a two-time U.S. Open winner and still has the kind of name recognition that can turn an early-round match into a center-stage event. But the numbers around the draw point in a different direction. Williams last won at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center 25 years ago, she was bounced in the first round at the Australian Open this year and she has been a first-round exit in each of her last four starts. Her last Grand Slam singles win came at Wimbledon in 2021.
Kenin brings a stronger recent record in New York. She has reached the third round a few times and made the fourth round once, in 2020, though she has not gotten beyond the second round at the U.S. Open since then. She has also struggled a bit in Grand Slams in 2026, which keeps the matchup from feeling one-sided in a sport where form can shift fast.
That is where the friction sits. Oddsmakers have Kenin as the clear favorite, yet Williams still carries the weight of a two-time champion and the kind of crowd support that can tilt an opening-round match for a few games or more. The gap between reputation and recent results is what makes the draw worth watching: Williams has the history, Kenin has the better recent path, and both arrive with something to prove in a first meeting that had never been on the schedule before.
The match does not just ask whether Williams can still produce one more big result at the U.S. Open. It asks whether she can turn a matchup built against her into something that looks, for one night, like the old version of herself.
