The U.S. Open announced that former World No. 1 players Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki are among the eight women who received wild-card entries into the main draw of the U.S. Open. Others receiving tournament entries are Americans Ashlyn Krueger, Robin Montgomery, Kayla Day and Clervie Ngounoue, Australia’s Storm Hunter, and France’s Fiona Ferro. Play in the main draw begins Aug. 28 in New York.
Williams, 43, will be making her 24th U.S. Open appearance. She won the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001, two of her seven Grand Slam wins. Williams was out the first six months of the year with injuries, but she competed at Wimbledon, where she lost to eventual runner-up Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the first round; and also appeared at the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio. At the WTA 1000 event near Cincinnati, she defeated Veronika Kudermetova in the first round on Monday for her first top-20 win since 2019.
Wozniacki, 33, retired from tennis in 2020. She gave birth to two children before deciding to return to the tour this summer. Wozniacki, from Denmark, is a two-time finalist at the U.S. Open, finishing as the runner-up in 2009 and 2014. She lost to Belgium’s Kim Clijsters in 2009 and to Serena Williams in the later match. Wozniacki just competed last week in Montreal for the first time since the 2020 Australian Open. Wozniacki won her first match at the National Bank Open at Montreal but was defeated in the second round by Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
On the men’s side, John Isner leads the eight selections. The 38-year-old Isner is a two-time quarterfinalist, currently ranked No. 106 and owns 488 career wins. Rising 18-year-old Alex Michelsen, who reached the Newport final and captured his maiden ATP Challenger Tour crown in Chicago, will contest his inaugural Grand Slam tournament. He is the youngest player ranked inside the Top 150 of the ATP rankings at No. 138. Other men’s selections include reigning NCAA men’s singles title holder Ethan Quinn, US Open Wild Card Challenge champion Steve Johnson, USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships 2x winner Learner Tien, world No. 99 Michael Mmoh, Australian Rinky Hijikata and Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi.
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