By Arthur Kapetanakis
There will be many changes at the 2020 Western & Southern Open, chiefly its relocation to a controlled environment at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York for this year's event, which will be held Aug. 20-28.
But the world-class action on the court will remain a constant, with a Wednesday announcement confirming a star-studded field for the men's and women's singles tournaments. Both defending champions—Madison Keys and Daniil Medvedev—are among the initial entrants, which include 11 former champions, including wild card Kim Clijsters.
Seven of the ATP's Top 10 are set to participate, including world No. 1: Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Dominic Thiem. Wild card Andy Murray—a two-time Cincinnati champ (2008, 2011)—also has a main-draw place, setting up for his first ATP action of 2020.
A large majority of the ATP’s Top 40 will be in action, including Top-25 Americans John Isner and Taylor Fritz, and No. 39 Reilly Opelka. Americans Tennys Sandgren, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe also received wild cards, while 2017 US Open finalist Kevin Anderson enters with an injury-protected ranking.
Serena Williams and reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin grace the women’s field, which features 15 of the WTA’s Top 20 and 11 Americans. In what would have been an Olympic year, Team USA will also be represented by world No. 13 Keys, No. 28 Amanda Anisimova and 16-year-old debutant Coco Gauff, among others. Karolina Pliskova, the world No. 3 and the 2016 Cincinnati champion, is the top-ranked woman in the initial field.
Clijsters, Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams and Cincinnati native Caty McNally were announced as women's main-draw wild cards on Thursday.
The 2020 Western & Southern Open will feature a 56-player draw for both the men’s and women’s singles events, with the Top 8 seeds in both draws receiving first-round byes.
An additional 12 players will be added to each field through a two-round qualifying event that will be held Aug. 20-21, with an entry deadline of Aug. 3.
Main-draw play will begin on Saturday, Aug. 22, with both singles finals set for Friday, Aug. 28. The 2020 US Open main draw is set to begin Aug. 31.
Visit the official Western & Southern Open website for a complete list of the initial entrants.