2023 U.S. Open tennis women's odds: Bettors backing USA's Coco Gauff to advance to final, fellow American Madison Keys sizable underdog in other semifinal

It's almost a shame that tonight's U.S. Open tennis action from New York will be overshadowed by the Lions-Chiefs NFL Kickoff Game, because it's a potentially special night for American players. Sixth-seeded Coco Gauff takes on No. 10 Karolina Muchova in the early semifinal from Arthur Ashe Stadium at 7 p.m. ET, and No. 17 Madison Keys faces No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the second at 8:15.

At DraftKings, 84% of the handle and 85% of the bets are on Gauff at -195, but only 13% of the money and 29% of the tickets are on Keys, who is a +210 underdog.

No American woman has won the U.S. Open since the surprising Sloane Stephens beat Keys in straight sets in the 2017 final. Serena Williams reached the final the next two years and lost both times. No American women have been back since. The last American woman semifinalists were Williams and Jennifer Brady in 2020.

At just 19 years old, Gauff has arguably been the story of the tournament. She's the first American teen to make the U.S. Open semifinals (in both the men's or women's tournament) since Williams in 2001. Gauff was stunned in the first round of Wimbledon but is 16-1 in her past 17 matches and has won 10 straight. She has yet to win a Grand Slam tournament, with a best result of second place in the 2022 French Open. She hadn't been past the quarterfinals in New York. Gauff will reach a career high of No. 3 in the world rankings if she wins the tournament and is the +175 second favorite.

It will be the second carer match between Gauff and Muchova, who is from the Czech Republic and in her second career Grand Slam semifinal. She lost in three sets to Iga Swiatek in the 2023 French Open final. They met less than three weeks ago on the hard courts of Cincinnati in a warmup for this event and Gauff won 6-3, 6-4 in the final. 

It's understandable that the 28-year-old Keys is a sizable underdog against the 25-year-old Sabalenka, as this is the fifth straight major in which the Belarusian has reached the semifinals. She lost in the 2022 U.S. Open semis (and in 2021), won this year's Australian Open and then lost in the French and Wimbledon semifinals. Sabalenka is the first woman to make the semifinals in five consecutive Grand Slam appearances since Williams made 10 straight between the 2014 U.S. Open and 2017 Australian Open.

Keys does have 26 career wins over top-10 players and two straight in this tournament, with victories over No. 3 Jessica Pegula in Round 4 and No. 9 Marketa Vondrousova in the quarterfinals. It's the first time Keys has reached the semis here since 2018.

Sabalenka is the +125 tournament favorite with Keys the +500 long shot. Sabalenka leads the series 2-1, winning their most recent match in straight sets this year at Wimbledon. 

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