2010 U.S. Open Men’s and Women’s Fields Announced

The USTA has announced that 99 of the top 100 women, including 2010 Grand Slam singles champions Serena Williams and Francesca Schiavone, are entered in the women’s singles field for the 2010 U.S. Open Tennis Championships. Williams and Schiavone will be joined in the field by defending champion Kim Clijsters and former U.S. Open champions Venus Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova. In all, 36 different countries are represented in the women’s field.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Justine Henin of Belgium will miss this year’s event due to an injury she suffered to her right (serving) elbow during Wimbledon.

Serena Williams, the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, will have the opportunity to win her third Grand Slam of the year, and 14th overall, at the U.S. Open. Reigning French Open champion Schiavone will attempt to win her first U.S. Open and second career major title. Altogether, there are seven players who have won Grand Slam singles titles in their careers competing in the U.S. Open this year, including former world number one-ranked Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, who won the 2008 French Open.

The 2010 U.S. Open will be played Aug. 30-Sept. 12 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Both the men’s and women’s U.S. Open singles champions will earn $1.7 million with the ability to earn an additional $1 million in bonus prize money (for a total $2.7 million potential payout) based on their performances in the Olympus U.S. Open Series. The U.S. Open Women’s Singles Championship is presented by JPMorgan Chase.

Leading the entry list on the women’s side is world number one-ranked and three-time U.S. Open champion Serena Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., who won U.S. Open titles in 1999, 2002 and 2008. Following Williams on the entry list are number two Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up; number three Venus Williams of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., the 2000 and 2001 U.S. Open champion; number four-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, the 2009 U.S. Open runner-up; number five-ranked Samantha Stosur of Australia, the 2010 French Open runner-up; number six-ranked Elena Dementieva of Russia, the 2004 U.S. Open runner-up; number seven-ranked Kim Clijsters of Belgium, the defending U.S. Open champion; number eight-ranked Francesca Schiavone of Italy, the reigning French Open champion; number nine-ranked Vera Zvonareva of Russia, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up; and number 10 Li Na of China.

Other American women who received direct entry into this year’s tournament include number 42-ranked Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., who last year became the youngest American to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals since 1999; number 80 Vania King of Long Beach, Calif.; number 95 Bethanie Mattek-Sands of Phoenix, Ariz.; and number 98-ranked Jill Craybas of Huntington Beach, Calif.

Three players—Anne Keothavong of Great Britain, Urszula Radwanska of Poland and Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia—received direct entry due to special rankings, while Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic, ranked 102nd, was the 104th and last player accepted directly into the women’s field of 128. Sixteen more players will gain entry through the U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament, Aug. 24-27, while the remaining eight spots are wild cards awarded by the USTA.

On the men’s side, the USTA announced that reigning French Open and Wimbledon Champion Rafael Nadal, five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer and defending U.S. Open Champion Juan Martin Del Potro, who is expected to return to Grand Slam competition after missing the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year, lead the men’s singles field. The player field also features former U.S. Open champions Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt. Each of the world’s top 98 men received direct entry into the U.S. Open, representing 33 countries.

Leading the entry list is world number one-ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain, who will be seeking his first U.S. Open title. Nadal recently swept the French Open and Wimbledon singles titles for the second time in three years and will be attempting to become just the seventh man in history to win the career Grand Slam joining Andre Agassi, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Federer, Rod Laver and Fred Perry.

World number two-ranked Novak Djokovic enters the U.S. Open seeking his second grand slam title and first since the 2008 Australian Open. Third-ranked Roger Federer is seeking his sixth U.S. Open title after having his consecutive streak of U.S. Open titles snapped at five by Juan Martin Del Potro last year. With a victory at the U.S. Open, Federer can surpass Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors for most U.S. men’s singles titles in the Open era. In 2007, Federer became the only man to win the Olympus U.S. Open Series and U.S. Open titles in the same year.

Following Nadal, Djokovic and Federer on the entry list are fourth-ranked Andy Murray of Great Britain, the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up; fifth-ranked Robin Soderling of Sweden, the French Open runner-up in 2009 and 2010; number six Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, a two-time U.S. Open semifinalist; number seven-ranked Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, the defending U.S. Open champion; eighth-ranked Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up; ninth-ranked Andy Roddick of Austin, Texas, the 2003 U.S. Open Champion; and at number 10, Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

In all, there are seven entrants who have won Grand Slam singles titles in their careers, including 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

Other American men who received direct entry into this year’s tournament include: 19th-ranked John Isner of Tampa, Fla.; 20th-ranked Sam Querrey of Las Vegas; number 49 Mardy Fish of Tampa, Fla.; number 75 Robby Ginepri of Kennesaw, Ga.; 89th-ranked Michael Russell of Houston; and 94th-ranked Taylor Dent of Bradenton, Fla. Additionally, Tommy Haas of Bradenton, Fla., who recently became a U.S. citizen, received direct entry via a protected ranking.

Bjorn Phau of Germany, ranked 98th in the world, is the last player accepted directly into the men’s field of 128. In addition to Haas, five other players used protected rankings to gain direct entry, including: David Nalbandian of Argentina; Dmitry Tursunov of Russia; Mario Ancic of Croatia; Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina; and Kristof Vliegen of Belgium. Sixteen more players will gain entry through the U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament, Aug. 24-27, while the remaining eight spots are wild cards awarded by the USTA.

The 2010 U.S. Open will mark the culmination of the Olympus U.S. Open Series, the six-week summer tennis season linking all major ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments in North America to the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open is the highest attended annual sporting event in the world. More than 70 million viewers watched the 2009 U.S. Open on CBS Sports, ESPN2 and Tennis Channel, and international broadcasts reached more than 185 countries. In 2009, Juan Martin Del Potro won his first career Grand Slam title, defeating five-time defending champion Roger Federer in a five-set final. In the women’s singles final, Kim Clijsters culminated her comeback from retirement, defeating Caroline Wozniacki to capture her second US Open title.

For more information, visit www.usopen.org.