WORLD NO. 1 SIMONA HALEP JOINED BY PAST US OPEN CHAMPIONS SERENA WILLIAMS, VENUS WILLIAMS, SLOANE STEPHENS, ANGELIQUE KERBER, MARIA SHARAPOVA, AND SAMANTHA STOSUR IN 2018 US OPEN WOMEN’S SINGLES FIELD

Field Includes Six US Open Champions

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., July 18, 2018 – The USTA today announced that six previous US Open champions will join world No. 1 Simona Halep (ROU) to headline the women’s singles field for the 2018 US Open Tennis Championships. Joining Halep in the US Open field is defending champion and world No. 3 Sloane Stephens (USA), 2016 US Open champion and world No. 4 Angelique Kerber (GER), six-time US Open champion Serena Williams (USA), two-time US Open champion Venus Williams (USA), 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova (RUS), and 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur (AUS).

Rounding out the top 10 entries are: No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN), the 2018 Australian Open champion; No. 5 Elina Svitolina (UKR); No. 6 Caroline Garcia (FRA); No.7 Garbine Muguruza (ESP), a two-time Grand Slam champion; No. 8 Petra Kvitova (CZE), a two-time Wimbledon champion; No. 9 Karolina Pliskova (CZE), the 2016 US Open finalist; and No. 10 Julia Goerges (GER), the 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist.

The 2018 US Open will be played Monday, August 27, through Sunday, September 9, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The US Open Women’s Singles Championship is presented by J.P. Morgan.

Eleven players who have won Grand Slam singles titles in their careers are competing in the US Open this year, including Halep, the reigning French Open champion, and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko (LAT).

100 of the top 101 women received direct entry into the US Open, representing 32 countries. The United States has 14 women who qualified for direct entry into the US Open’s main draw—the most of any country.

Anna Blinkova (RUS), ranked No. 101 is the last player accepted directly into the women’s field of 128. Four players are using a special ranking to gain entry into the main draw, including No. 23 Timea Bacsinszky (SUI), No. 32 Laura Siegemund (GER), No. 62 Margarita Gasparyan (RUS), and No. 67 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO). Sixteen more players will gain entry through the US Open Qualifying Tournament, August 21-24, while the remaining eight spots are wild cards awarded by the USTA.

In addition to Stephens, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams, the other American women who received direct entry into this year’s tournament include: No. 12 Madison Keys, of Orlando, Fla., No. 19 Coco Vandeweghe, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., No. 43 Danielle Collins, of St. Petersburg, Fla., No. 61 Taylor Townsend, of Chicago, No. 64 Sofia Kenin, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., No. 68 Alison Riske, of Pittsburgh, No. 70 Jennifer Brady, of Orlando, Fla., No. 75 Sachia Vickery, of Miramar, Fla., No. 78 Bernarda Pera, of Tenafly, N.J., No. 87 CiCi Bellis, of Orlando, Fla., and No. 97 Christina McHale, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

The July 16 edition of the WTA rankings was used to determine the US Open main draw entry list. Seeds will be determined and announced closer to the start of the event.

The 2018 US Open will mark the culmination of the US Open Series, the North American summer season of seven ATP World Tour and WTA events that begins next week in Atlanta.

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the US Open, and throughout Fan Week and the Main Draw of the tournament, special recognitions and ceremonies will take place to honor the tradition and history of the event, as well as celebrate its great champions. In addition, the 2018 US Open marks the completion of the Strategic Transformation of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with the opening of the new 14,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium. In all, the five-year project, which revamped more than 90 percent of the facility, will have incorporated the installation of a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, the construction of a new Louis Armstrong Stadium (also with a retractable roof), a new Grandstand, new West Stadium and practice courts, as well as a completely renovated and redesigned southern campus.