Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and world number two Rafael Nadal have entered the US Open tuneup tournament to be played in New York while Serena Williams is in the women’s field. Djokovic, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, and Nadal, the defending US and French Open champion, had been concerned about the wisdom of staging the US Open during a widespread COVID-19 outbreak across the United States. Williams, who turns 39 in September, has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, one shy of Margaret Court’s all-time record. Williams last won a Grand Slam singles title at the 2017 Australian Open. Absent are Australia’s top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, the reigning French Open champion, and world number two Simona Halep of Romania, the current Wimbledon champion, plus fifth-rated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and last year’s US Open champion, Canada’s sixth-ranked Bianca Andreescu.

Source: Punch July 29, 2020 17:26 UTC