The 2021 US Open will be treated to star-studded men's and women's singles fields this summer, with a staggering 15 Grand Slam singles champions among the WTA entries.
Seven of those major-winners currently reside the Top 10 of the WTA rankings. World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, who recently won her second major title at Wimbledon, leads the entry list ahead of world No. 2 Naomi Osaka, a four-time Slam-winner and the defending US Open champion; 2020 Australian Open champion and world No. 4 Sofia Kenin; 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu, the world No. 5; 2020 French Open champion and world No. 8 Iga Swiatek; and a pair of former world No. 1s and two-time Slam champions in world No. 9 Garbiñe Muguruza and world No. 10 Simona Halep.
The July 19 edition of the world rankings was used to determine 2021 US Open entry, with 100 of the world's Top 104 opting in.
Rounding out the singles major-winners expected in the field are reigning French Open champion and world No. 11 Barbora Krejcikova; two-time Wimbledon winner and world No. 13 Petra Kvitova; two-time Australian Open champion and world No. 14 Victoria Azarenka, also a three-time Open finalist; 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, currently ranked world No. 15; 2016 US Open champion and three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber; 2018 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko; and a pair of singluar US Open champions in 2017 winner Sloane Stephens and 2011 champion Samantha Stosur.
In all, 34 countries are represented in the list, including all 16 Americans currently sitting inside the world's Top 100, from No. 4 Kenin to world No. 100 Christina McHale.
Four women have entered using a protected ranking, including two former Top 10 players in Stosur and Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, plus former world No. 25 Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan and Serbia's Ivana Jorovic.
It'll be both a triumphant return, and farewell, to New York for Suarez Navarro: the two-time US Open quarterfinalist overcame Hodgkin's lymphoma earlier this year, and has announced her plans to retire from tennis at year's end.
2012 US Open semifinalist Sara Errani, now ranked world No. 104, is the last woman to receive direct entry, while Belgian Kirsten Flipkens is currently the first player on the alternate list. Sixteen more players will gain entry through the US Open Qualifying Tournament, which will be held from Aug. 24-27, while eight others will be awarded wild cards to complete the 128-player field.
The 2021 US Open will be played Monday, Aug. 30 to Sunday, Sept. 12 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Tickets are available through USOpen.org.
