The women who have reached the final at least four times during the Open Era are Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters.[2] In the seven years from 1968 through 1974, King appeared in four finals and won three titles.[2] Goolagong Cawley was the runner-up four consecutive years from 1973 through 1976.[2] In the ten years from 1975 through 1984, Evert reached nine finals and won six titles.[2] She reached six consecutive finals, and won five titles, between 1975 and 1980.[2] She reached three consecutive finals, and won one title, between 1982 and 1984.[2] Navratilova from 1981 through 1991 appeared in eight finals, and won four titles.[2] Graf twice appeared in four consecutive finals, the first in 1987-1990 when she won two titles and the second in 1993-1996 when she won three titles.[2] Seles reached four finals from 1991 through 1996, winning two consecutive titles in 1991 and 1992 but losing two consecutive finals in 1995 and 1996.[2] From 1997 through 2002, Venus Williams appeared in four finals and won two consecutive titles in 2000 and 2001.[2] Since 1999, Serena Williams has reached the final ten times and won six titles in 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014.[2] During 2003 to 2010, Clijsters made the finals four times, winning in 2005, 2009, and 2010.
The men who have reached the final at least four times during the Open Era are Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.[3] Connors reached five consecutive finals, and won three titles, from 1974 through 1978 before he won consecutive titles in 1982 and 1983.[3] Borg reached four finals in six years from 1976 through 1981 but lost all of them. McEnroe won three straight titles from 1979 through 1981 before he won another title in 1984 and was the runner-up in 1985.[3] Lendl reached eight consecutive finals, and won three titles, from 1982 through 1989. From 1990 through 2002, Sampras reached the final eight times and won five titles. In the 16 years from 1990 through 2005, Agassi reached six finals but won only two titles.[3] Federer has reached six consecutive finals and seven overall.[3] He won the first five finals before losing the last two.[3] Nadal reached the final three times in four years, beginning in 2010; winning twice in 2010 and 2013 while losing in 2011; and then won two more finals in 2017 and 2019.[3] Djokovic reached the final ten times and he won in four of those appearances.
During the 56 times that this tournament has been held in the Open Era, 44 men have reached the US Open men's singles final.[3] The final has included men from 16 different nationalities, with most being from the United States although Sweden, Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, Australia, Switzerland, Spain, and Serbia also have made significant contributions.[3]
During the 56 times that this tournament has been held in the Open Era, 45 women have reached the US Open women's singles final.[3] Women from the United States are by far the most numerous, although Australia, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Spain, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, and Italy also have made significant contributions.[2]