Former US Open winners Dominic Thiem and Venus Williams have been awarded wild cards for the final Grand Slam of the year.
Austrian Thiem, who won the 2020 tournament in a thrilling final against Germany’s best tennis player Alexander Zverev, was given one of eight entry slots for the main draw. This was announced by the organisers of the event, which starts on 29 August in New York. Shortly after his success two years ago, the former world number three had been struggling with injury problems for over a year.
The 42-year-old Williams was also injured for a long time before she returned to the tour this year at the doubles tournament in Wimbledon. Besides Williams, former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin was among the other players to receive a wild card. Williams’ sister Serena is in the US Open despite also having long-term injury problems because of her protected ranking. The 23-time Grand Slam winner had recently announced her intention to end her career shortly. The American is expected to retire after the US Open.
