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Venus Williams will be playing in her 24th US Open when the tournament gets underway later this month after receiving a wild card from the United States Tennis Association on Wednesday.
The 43-year-old Williams returned to competition earlier this summer after being sidelined for six months with injury. She recorded her first top-20 win in four years on Monday with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Veronika Kudermetova at the Western & Southern Open.
The former No. 1 made her debut in New York in 1997 and reached the final. She has won the singles titles twice, in 2000 and 2001, and has reached the quarterfinals or better on 12 occasions, most recently with a semifinal appearance in 2017. She lost in the first round of the 2022 tournament after receiving a wild card.
Williams is currently ranked No. 533 in the world.
Caroline Wozniacki, a fellow former No. 1 and the 2018 Australian Open champion, was previously announced as a wild card recipient when she declared she would be coming back to the sport in an essay in Vogue earlier this summer. She won her first match back last week in Montreal at the Canadian Open, before ultimately losing in the second round. The 33-year-old was defeated in her opener at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday and will bring a 1-2 record to New York. She is a two-time finalist at the event.
Other women receiving wild cards from the UTSA include Americans Ashlyn Krueger, Robin Montgomery, Kayla Day and Clervie Ngounoue. France’s Fiona Ferro and Australia’s Storm Hunter were also given wild cards as part of reciprocal agreements with their respective federations.
John Isner, a former top-10 player and two-time US Open quarterfinalist, leads the wild card list on the men’s side. The 38-year-old will be playing in his 17th US Open main draw. He is currently ranked No. 106 and has won one match during three hardcourt tournaments this summer.
Americans Alex Michelsen, Michael Mmoh, Steve Johnson, Ethan Quinn and Learner Tien were also announced as wild card recipients on Wednesday, as well as France’s Benjamin Bonzi and Australia’s Rinky Hijikata.
The main draw at the US Open gets underway on Aug. 28 in New York. Current world No. 1s Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz are the defending champions.