World No.1 Swiatek and Serena in the mix on US Open entry list
NEW YORK : The stage is set for a thrilling final Grand Slam event of the year with the announcement of the initial 2022 US Open entry list.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek resides at the top of the list of 104 players who have received direct entry into the season’s last major. Swiatek will aim for her second Grand Slam title of the year ater winning Roland Garros as part of an incredible 37-match winning streak.
Also on the list is six-time US Open champion Serena Williams, who is entered with a protected injury ranking of No.16. Williams, 40, has won 23 Grand Slam singles title in her career, the most by any player, female or male, since the introduction of the Open Era in 1968.
The current WTA Top 5 are all at the top of the list: Swiatek, Anet Kontaveit, Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa and 2022 Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur. Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina will also make her first appearance at a major as a Grand Slam champion.
The newest Top 10 player Emma Raducanu will return to defend her title. Last year, British teen Raducanu sensationally swept through ten matches without the loss of a set to become the first player, female or male, to win a Grand Slam event as a qualifier.
The other teenage breakout of last year’s US Open, finalist Leylah Fernandez, also appears on the entry list. 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu joins Fernandez to expand Canadian interest further in the entries. 2018 and 2020 championnaomiosaka,2016championangelique Kerber, and 2017 champion Sloane Stephens are other former US Open titlists in the mix.
Other Grand Slam champions entered include Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, Barbora Krejcikova, Jelena Ostapenko and threetime US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka.
Coco Gauff, this year’s Roland Garros finalist, and Danielle Collins, this season’s Australian Open finalist, are two Americans who will try to go one step further in New York this year. 15 Americans are on the initial entry list, which leads all nations.
Other Americans contesting their home-soil major include top-ranked American Jessica Pegula, 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys, and recent Wimbledon quarterfinalist Amanda Anisimova. Taylor Townsend is also entered with her protected ranking following maternity leave.
The only Top 50 player missing from the initial entry list is No.42 Elina Svitolina. Ukraine’s Svitolina, the former World No.3, is off tour while pregnant with her first child.
Meanwhile, third-seeded Elise Mertens was eliminated from the Prague Open on Monday ater losing her first-round match to unseeded Magda Linete of Poland 3-6, 6-2, 2-6.
Linete beat her Belgian opponent for the first time ater three losses. She next faces Daria Snigur or Viktoriya Tomova in the second round of the outdoor hardcourt tournament.
Sixth-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck retired due to an injury when she was 5-2 down in her first-round match against Dalila Jakupovic. The Slovenian will play next Qiang Wang of China who rallied to beat Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Eighth-seeded Czech Marie Bouzkova, who reachedthewimbledonquarterfinals,beataustria’s Sinja Kraus 6-2, 7-6 (2).
Lin Zhu, Nao Hibino and Chloe Paquet also advanced.