Naomi Osaka and Dominic Thiem star in US Open wildcard list

Dominic Thiem - Australian Open 2024 and Naomi Osaka - Miami Open 2024

August 15, 2024

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Naomi Osaka and Dominic Thiem star in US Open wildcard list

The 2024 US Open wildcards have been announced, with four former champions including Naomi Osaka and Dominic Thiem featuring on the list.

Osaka was sat as fourth alternate to the main draw, after a ranking of World No.102 was not enough to get her into the initial entry list.

Therefore a wildcard has been offered to the the former No.1, who won her first Grand Slam title back in 2018 after beating Serena Williams in the final.

The Japanese star went onto win her second US Open title two years later, in the tournament that was crowdless due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Osaka is one of two former champions in US Open women’s wildcard list, with 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu also being rewarded with one.

The US Open is by far Andreescu’s most successful major tournament with a win percentage of 86%, but the Canadian was forced to miss the tournament last year due to a back injury that kept her out of action for nearly 10 months.

Amanda Anisimova is another of the women’s wildcards, coming off the back of reaching her first WTA 1000 final in Toronto last week.

As a result of her success in Toronto Anisimova rose to World No.49, but her entry ranking of No.175 would have only been enough for qualifying.

Other WTA main draw wildcards have been awarded to Taylah Preston (Australian reciprocal wildcard), Chloe Paquet (French reciprocal wildcard), as well as American’s McCartney Kessler, 18-year-old Alex Noel (American NCAA singles champion) and 16-year-old Iva Jovic (USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion).

In the men’s draw, former champions Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka have been awarded wildcards for the New York major.

Thiem revealed earlier this year that this will be his last season on tour, but the Austrian was not awarded wildcards for either Roland Garros or Wimbledon.

However, the 30-year-old has received a wildcard for the tournament where he won his only Grand Slam title back in 2020.

Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Chris Eubanks has also received a wildcard for his home major, with the American falling down to No.123 in the ATP rankings.

Eubanks is one of four American’s to be awarded wildcards for the tournament, alongside Zachary Svajda, Learner Tien and Matthew Forbes (USTA Boys’ 18s National Champion).

The reciprocal wildcards for players from other Grand Slam nations have been given to Australia’s Tristan Schoolkate and France’s Alexandre Muller.

2024 Main Draw Wild Cards are set 👇 pic.twitter.com/Le4Q2o5V2I

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 14, 2024

All of these players will take to the US Open main draw when the tournament gets underway on Monday 26th August.

Inside the baseline…

This is a really strong wildcard list for the US Open this year, with the only notable emission being former finalist Kei Nishikori, who just reached the Canadian Open quarter-final. Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu and Stan Wawrinka are deserved recipients of main draw wildcards as former champions, and it is great to see 2020 winner Dominic Thiem also being rewarded with one at his final Grand Slam tournament. It is also nice to see some younger American’s have a shot at their home major tournament, especially as they had to earn it.

Full 2024 US Open wildcard list

There are also US Open qualifying wildcards that have been handed out to exclusively American players, and we have the full list for you to delve into:

Men’s Singles Main Draw Wildcards