Western and Southern Open headliners, qualifiers announced

This year’s Western and Southern Open will be taking place from August 20-28. Here is a preview of what to expect for this year’s tournament.

Tennis makes its return to New York with this year’s Western and Southern Open, as the tournament will be held in Flushing Meadows for the very first time, due to COVID-19 concerns.

The men’s looks more or less the same, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and defending champ Danil Medvedev all on the acceptance list, though Nadal may not actually play due to recent developments. 

In addition, the qualifying field on the Men’s side is stacked this year, with Jannik Sinner headlining, along with a multitude of other NextGen players, and some old veterans such as Richard Gasquet and Giles Simon.

Perhaps the biggest news of all is the return of Andy Murray, who received a wild card on August 3rd to enter the tournament, along with some big-name American players such as Frances Tiafoe and Tennys Sandgren.

The women’s field is perhaps a bit more complicated, as Ashleigh Barty announced that they won’t be competing in this year’s tournament, opening the playing field up a bit. Nevertheless, the women’s field is still stacked to the brim, with defending champ Madison Keys returning, along with former champs Serena Williams, Kiki Bertens, Garbiñe Muguruza, and Karolina Pliskova.

In addition, 18-year-old wunderkind and Coco Gauff’s doubles partner Caty Mcnally, a Cincinnati native, received a wild card to play in this year’s tournament, joining powerhouse players like Kim Clijsters, Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens, and Venus Williams, all of whom received wild cards to play the tournament. In addition, big names like Victoria Azarenka and Taylor Townsend headline the qualifying draw on the women’s side.

Though COVID-19 has drastically affected tennis this season, we can look forward to the Western and Southern Open to bring back all the excitement we have been missing for the past few months (though for tennis fans, it feels like years). The action begins August 20th on ESPN and Tennis Channel.