Taking another step toward actually hosting the 2020 U.S. Open, the USTA announced wild cards for the second Grand Slam of the year on Thursday. Headlining the men’s recipients is Andy Murray, who is set for his first major appearance since the 2019 Australian Open.
Murray briefly “retired” in Melbourne last year but returned later in the season after recovering from hip surgery. The former world No. 1, however, was not ready for best-of-five situations and did not play the 2019 U.S. Open or the 2020 Australian Open. Now, though, he thinks he is ready to go–and is therefore willing to risk traveling and participating even amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
“While I’m feeling relatively decent–obviously there is a risk there–I want to try and play in [the Western & Southern Open and U.S. Open] and enjoy the biggest events again,” Murray explained. “I missed that a lot; I’ve missed it. I love playing the biggest events–even though this will be different with no fans, but that is something I care about and willing to take a risk to go and play.”
Joining Murray in the field of 128 are Americans Michael Mmoh, Brandon Nakashima, Ulises Blanch, Maxime Cressy, Sebastian Korda, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, and J.J. Wolf.
On the women’s side, Kim Clijsters headlines the list of wild-card recipients. Clijsters, already a Hall of Famer, began her comeback earlier this year in Dubai before the pandemic struck.
“Its not like you’re dealing with an injury and you’re the only one out,” Clijsters said of the five-month hiatus from tennis. “This is what everybody has to deal with. We just tried to make sure that we were able to do the things we wanted to do with the family, and at the same time still train and take care of myself.”
Also receiving U.S. Open wild cards are Americans CiCi Bellis, Whitney Osuigwe, Usue Arconada, Francesca Di Lorenzo, Caroline Dolehide, Ann Li, and Robin Montgomery.
The U.S. Open is scheduled to be played August 31-September 13. It is preceded by the Western & Southern Open, which will also take place at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York after being moved from Cincinnati.
will it happen?
I’ve given up on even trying to predict wth will happen next! Good luck to the participants, especially Andy and Kim!
They WILL play….and I think they will all (or most!) stay healthy….baseball (sort of!!) and basketball, and golf, are making a go of it….tennis can too!!
Muzza’s best chance of another Slam, surely.
Or maybe one of the other wildcards ..