US Open 2021: Two-time winner Venus Williams among wildcard entrants for tournament

New York: Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams was among the US Open women’s and men’s wildcard selections announced on Wednesday by the US Tennis Association. The 41-year-old American, a two-time winner in New York who lifted the trophy in 2000 and 2001, will make her 15th consecutive main draw appearance and 23rd all-time start in the Flushing Meadows fortnight. The former world number one has not missed a Grand Slam since 2013 at Wimbledon but has slid to 112th in the WTA rankings, putting her outside the direct entries into the field for the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, which begins on August 30. American CoCo Vandeweghe, a 2017 Australian and US Open semi-finalist who ranked as high as ninth in the world, also received a wildcard, as did US teens Hailey Baptiste, Ashlyn Krueger, Caty McNally and Katie Volynets. Australia’s Storm Sanders was awarded a wildcard in an agreement with Tennis Australia. On the men’s side, 20-year-old Americans Jenson Brooksby and Brandon Nakashima were joined as wildcards by compatriots Jack Sock, Sam Riffice, Zachary Svajda, Emilio Nava and Ernesto Escobedo plus Australian Max Purcell. Brooksby reached his first ATP final last month at Newport and reached the Washington semi-finals two weeks ago. Nakashima was a runner-up in back-to-back events last month at Los Cabos, Mexico and Atlanta.