The WTA tour finds itself in an intriguing place right at the moment.
Unlike the ATP which is still dominated by two of the big three in Nadal and Djokovic, the women's side continues to be very wide open.
There are plenty of storylines leading into the US open at the end of this month, so let's take a look at a few. Iga Swiatek
We saw Iga go on an incredible run of winning form earlier this season.
She went on an amazing 37-match winning streak, which included winning four WTA 1000 tournaments, one WTA 500 and capping off the mind blowing run of dominance by winning the French open for the second time in her career. As well as making the semi-final of the Australian open to start the year she has a 49-6 win-loss record on the season at the time of writing.
She started the season as world number nine, but has well and truly picked up the mantle from the retired Ash Barty as the clear number one in the world.
Her dominance has been across two surfaces, hard and clay before the grass halted her momentum and since her Wimbledon third round exit, she made a quarter final on clay in Warsaw and this week back on the hardcourt of Toronto, she fell in her second match to the in form Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia.
She now moves on to another big WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinatti, hoping to get back to her dominant ways leading into New York.
Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu
Two previous US Open Champions.
Osaka has spent a lot of time away from the court in recent times for mental health issues. She has started playing again and has managed to get her ranking back down to 39 in the world.
It hasn't been smooth sailing though, as she has dealt with a few injury issues and unfortunately had to withdraw mid-match in her first match in Toronto this week.
It leaves big question marks and doubts about whether or not she can get back to her once dominating form of the hard court majors, with the US open just over two weeks away. Andreescu has also dealt with a lot of injuries since her incredible breakthrough winning the Canadian Open and US open as a teenager in 2019.
She has not been able to stay on the court long enough to build up her form and confidence, but having returned to the tour this year in Stuttgart in April, has gone 14-9 including getting to the third round in Toronto this week.
Her game is full of power and variety and she can do some real damage on her backhand side. If her body can stay injury free she can be an incredibly dangerous floater in the US open draw.
Coco Gauff It's hard to believe that Coco is still only 18 as she has been on the tour for a few years now
She has got herself down to world number 11 and had a great run at the French Open this year making the final. Could this be the time for her to really break through with a deep run or even win her home slam? I feel that even if it is not this year for Coco she has a great level-headed mindset and she isn't going away anytime soon.
Last years Champion and Finalist
What can we expect from last year’s unexpected US open winner Emma Raducanu and runner-up Leylah Fernandez.
What Raducanu did last year at the US Open is simply phenomenal.
In only her second major, she goes on to win it, which is a record for the fewest majors played before winning one.
Not only that, an even more incredible feat was becoming the only person to ever come through qualifying and then go on to win the main draw. As if that wasn't enough, she did not drop a set for the entire tournament. Amazing!
Since that incredible triumph, all eyes have been on the young Brit, in her first full year on tour where she has gone 11-14 including a first round exit in Toronto this week, a year that has been injury-interrupted season with many coaching changes. To expect her to defend her incredible title from last year would be unfair.
Still, it would be great to see her go on a run. The way she takes the ball early and dictates to her opponents is very impressive, not to mention her world-class backhand. Fernandez is down to world number 13 and did make the quarter-final of the French Open this year before injury interrupted and made her miss Wimbledon.
Like Swiatek this week, the nineteen year old fell victim to Beatriz Haddad Maia in their second round match.
OLDER BRIGADE Could any of Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Garbine Muguruza, Angelique Kerber or Victoria Azarenka challenge again? I'm not sure with a hungry group of youngsters and seasoned professionals, it is very competitive on the WTA tour. If any of this group might go on a title-challenging run I’d say perhaps Halep could find her best form again and contend.
FIRST TIME WINNER
Will it be another first-time winner, as we have seen many over recent years? Like Elena Rybakina winning Wimbledon, will one of the women who are all up there in the rankings and have been knocking on the door for a while, could one of them claim their first major?
Jabeur, Sabalenka, Badosa, Sakkari, Kontaveit, Anissmova, Collins or Pegula? The list could go on and that's what makes the upcoming US Open intriguing.
THE FAIRYTALE ENDING Last but certainly not least, what will we see from the great Serena Williams in her swan song?
Could she possibly go on one final run at her home slam? Wouldn't it be great to see it?
Unfortunately, the reality is that Serena has played very little tennis over the last year and to expect her to go deep, let alone win would be extremely unlikely.
In Serena’s own words, she doesn't like the word retired she prefers to say “evolving away from tennis”.
Let's hope that before she does evolve away from the game, we can get one last performance, one last battle, one last fierce competitive match of which we have been treated to so many times over her amazing career.
A fairy tale it would be if she could tie Margaret Court’s 24 majors in her final match but Serena’s 23 in the open era is I believe an even more impressive achievement.