Serena Williams of the US ties her Nike shoe laces before a point against Canada's Eugenie Bouchard during their women's singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne last year. (Getty Images)
US Open 2022 is almost upon us. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) released the men’s and women’s singles entry lists for the tournament which kicks off on August 29.
The lists for US Open 2022 have been listed based on the ATP and WTA rankings for the week of July 18. The initial men’s singles cutoff was No. 101 while that of women’s singles was No. 99. 13 men and 15 women from the United States will be competing in the tournament, which is the highest number of players from a particular country.
World No. 13 Taylor Fritz and world No. 17 Reilly Opelka are the two top-ranked players from the United States as far as men’s singles are concerned. In the women’s singles department, Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins, who are ranked 7th and 8th respectively, are the highest-ranked American players.
US Open is following the ITF Grand Slam rulebook as all eligible players are automatically entered into the main draw of both men’s and women’s singles events as per their ranking, 42 days before the first Monday of the event.
In the statement released on the official website of the US Open, there’s also a note regarding the USTA’s stance on unvaccinated players:
“The US Open does not have a vaccination mandate in place for players, but it will respect the U.S. government’s position regarding travel into the country for unvaccinated non-U.S. citizens.”
Therefore, Novak Djokovic might be on the list at No. 7 but his participation in the last Grand Slam of the year seems to be in real doubt.
The home favorite Serena Williams will be participating in her second Grand Slam since suffering an injury last year at SW19.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion returned to action at Eastbourne International after being sidelined for almost a year. She participated in the women’s doubles event, teaming with Tunisian star Ons Jabeur. They made it to the semifinal stage before having to pull out as Jabeur suffered an injury.
The veteran took part in Wimbledon but her run was cut short in the first round following a defeat to French tennis pro, Harmony Tan.
Serena Williams and Taylor Townsend are two of the fifteen women to have entered the tournament with specially protected rankings. Williams has a protected ranking of No. 16 while Townsend is ranked No. 84.
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