The results of the fourth Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year at the 2012 U.S. Open matter in different ways for each of the top eight women.  So what’s at stake for each of the players?

•    Victoria Azarenka – The Number One ranking is one of the big stakes at the final Grand Slam of 2012 and a win here would give her a strong case for the year-end top spot
•    Agnieszka Radwanska – She is very close to gaining the top spot by reaching the Wimbledon final, as well as her first Slam, but a sore shoulder may hinder her form
•    Maria Sharapova – It has already been a great year, but she still has a strong chance to claim the top ranking again and a win would probably cement her as the top player for this year
•    Serena Williams – She definitely wants another U.S. Open title, but she also clearly wants to claim the Number One ranking on the computer, even if she already has it in everyone’s mind
•    Petra Kvitova – She finally won her first tournament of the year in Canada a couple weeks ago and she has never played well in the United States so a strong U.S. Open would be a big turnaround…
•    Angelique Kerber – She has already had a career year, but she is also defending semifinal points from last year and could feel some pressure after a long year so making her seed would be a good showing
•    Samantha Stosur – Given her form this year, no one expects her to defend her title, but perhaps the lack of expectations and a return to the site of her greatest success will inspire her to play better
•    Caroline Wozniacki – She tweaked her knee in New Haven, but is still playing and would dearly like to make a deep run in a Slam, let alone win one, to start to climb back up the rankings