The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has announced its wild card recipients for the men’s and women’s singles competitions at the upcoming US Open, including former champions Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu.
Thiem and Wawrinka have received wild cards for the the men’s draw alongside, Americans Chris Eubanks, Zachary Svajda, Learner Tien and Matthew Forbes.
France’s Alexandre Muller and Australian Tristan Schoolkate have also received wild cards for the men’s draw as part of reciprocal agreements with the French Open and Australian Open.
In the women’s draw, Osaka and Andreescu are joined by Americans McCartney Kessler, Amanda Anisimova, Alexa Noel and Iva Jovic, who have all received wild cards for the 2024 tournament.
France’s Chloe Paquet and Australia’s Taylah Preston have also received wild cards as part of reciprocal agreements.
The US Open main draw is set to kick off on Monday, Aug. 26, with Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff coming into the tournament as defending champions in the men’s and women’s draw respectively.
Wawrinka, who beat Djokovic in four sets in the 2016 final, has won three men’s grand slams and once ranked as high as world number 3. The 39-year-old is currently ranked 144th globally and will make his 72nd grand slam main draw appearance at the upcoming US Open.
Thiem, who won the US Open in 2020, has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2024 season after struggling with a persistent wrist injury over the past three years. The 30-year-old also reached number 3 in the world but has plummeted down the rankings and currently ranks 211th in the world.
Eubanks, on the other hand, is currently ranked 123rd after reaching a career-high ranking of 29th last season when he reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and won his first ATP Tour title in Mallorca.
In the women’s draw, Osaka is the standout wildcard recipient, having won four grand slam titles, including the US Open in 2018 and 2020.
The 26-year-old, a former world number 1, returned to the tennis court this year after giving birth to her daughter. Osaka recently broke into the WTA Top 100 for the first time since returning.
Andreescu also returned to the court earlier this year after missing nine months with a back injury. The 24-year-old reached the French Open third round in her first event back this year before reaching her first WTA final in more than two years when she reached the decider of the 2024 Libéma Open in the Netherlands back in June, defeating Osaka along the way.
Kessler, a former All-American at the University of Florida, is currently ranked a career-high world 100 and made her grand slam main draw debut at the 2024 Australian Open, reaching the second round.
Jovic, who is just 16 years old, has received a wild card after winning the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships. She is currently ranked fifth in the ITF world junior rankings and has won the girls’ doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.
The USTA also announced the American men and women who will receive wild cards into the US Open Qualifying tournament, which will be held Aug. 19-22 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing.
In the men’s qualifying competition, three-time singles finalist Brandon Holt, 2023 NCAA singles champion Ethan Quinn, Stanford All-American Nishesh Basavareddy, and 2024 French Open boys’ singles champion Kaylan Bigun are among the nine players to receive wild cards.
Eliot Spizzirri, 22, Aidan Mayo, 21, Bruno Kuzuhara, 20, Michael Zheng, 20, and Jack Kennedy, 16, have also received wild cards for the men’s qualifying competitions.
On the women’s side, former world junior number 1 Clervie Ngounoue, 18, 2022 Wimbledon Girls’ singles champion Liv Hovde, 18, and 16-year-old Tyla Grant, who has won three grand slam girls’ doubles titles, have received wild cards for the qualifying tournament.
Akasha Urhobo, 17, Sophie Chang, 27, Mary Stoiana, 22, Kristina Penickova, 14, Julieta Pareja, 15, and Valerie Glozman, 17, have also received wild cards for the qualifying competition.
