Venus Williams will have a chance to snap her 14-match losing streak, having received a wildcard to compete in the main draw of the US Open. Sloane Stephens is another former champion among the wildcard recipients announced today by the USTA.
The 46-year-old Williams has not won a singles match since July last year, but she will have another chance to finally end that negative stretch at the US Open, where she triumphed twice, albeit a quarter century ago, in 2000 and 2001. Her recent results in New York have been far less successful, as she has not made it past the first round since 2019.
Stephens, who captured her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2017, has also been awarded a wildcard into the main draw.
The remaining confirmed main-draw wildcards have gone to 24-year-old Carol Young Suh Lee, winner of the US Open wildcard challenge; 21-year-old Reese Brantmeier, winner of the American collegiate player wildcard playoff; and 17-year-old Thea Frodin, the USTA girls’ 18s national champion.
France’s Leolia Jeanjean, 31, received her spot through a reciprocal agreement with the French Tennis Federation, while Australia’s Taylah Preston, 20, was awarded a wildcard through a reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia. One additional main-draw wildcard is still to be announced.
The USTA also announced eight women’s qualifying wildcards. The list includes 16-year-old Janae Preston, the USTA girls’ 18s singles finalist, and 22-year-old Katrina Scott, who was the American collegiate player wildcard challenge finalist.
Former world No. 41 Caroline Dolehide, currently ranked No. 246, and Ayana Akli, currently No. 266, will also enter qualifying with wildcards. The group is completed by 16-year-old Annika Penickova, a former Top-20 world-ranked junior; 17-year-old Julieta Pareja, a USTA girls’ 18s singles semifinalist and current world No. 290; former world junior No. 1 Kristina Penickova, 16; and 23-year-old Savannah Broadus, currently ranked No. 307.
The final qualifying wildcard will go to the winner of the newly introduced US Open qualifying wildcard challenge, which features four rising American women and four men competing in semifinals and finals on August 23 on Courts 4-7 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The women’s field includes Chukwumelije Clarke, Welles Newman, Jordyn Hazelitt, and Kennedy Drenser-Hagmann.
