Grand Slam: Thiem and Venus Williams receive wild cards for US Open

The two former US Open winners Dominic Thiem and Venus Williams received wild cards for the last Grand Slam of the year.

The Austrian Thiem, who won the 2020 tournament in a thrilling final against Germany’s best tennis player Alexander Zverev, received one of eight starting authorizations for the main draw. This was announced by the organizers of the event in New York, which begins on August 29th. Shortly after his success two years ago, the former world number three had been struggling with injury problems for over a year.

Williams, 42, was also injured for a long time before returning to the tour in the doubles tournament at Wimbledon this year. In addition to Williams, former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin also received a wild card. Williams’ sister Serena, despite also having long-term injury problems, is there because of her protected ranking at the US Open. The 23-time Grand Slam winner recently announced that she wanted to end her career shortly. The American is expected to retire after the US Open.