Former champions Sloane Stephens (Philadelphia Freedoms) and Venus Williams (Washington Kastles) headline a strong #WTTFamily lineup set to compete at the US Open, which begins Monday.
Stephens, the reigning champion, enters this year‘s event as the No. 3 seed. In 2018, she lifted the Miami trophy and reached the Roland Garros and Montreal finals. The 25-year-old opens against Evgeniya Rodina in the brand new Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Like Stephens, Williams is in the top half of the draw and faces a tough opener on Arthur Ashe Stadium with another past titlist in Svetlana Kuznetsova. The16th-seeded Williams, who was edged out by Stephens in a gripping semifinal a year ago, is bidding to win her 50th tour-level singles crown.
Other women‘s singles participants include 20th seed Naomi Osaka (Kastles), 2017 semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe (San Diego Aviators) and 2018 WTT Female MVP Taylor Townsend (Freedoms).
Last year‘s male runner-up Kevin Anderson (Freedoms) is the fifth seed and finds himself in a difficult section of the draw. The South African begins his campaign versus Ryan Harrison, with Sam Querrey (Orange County Breakers) and rising stars Denis Shapovalov (28th seed) and Andrey Rublev (2017 quarterfinalist) looming as potential week one opponents.
Jack Sock (Springfield Lasers), the 18th seed, hopes to get things going against Guido Andreozzi. Fellow Americans Frances Tiafoe (Kastles), Taylor Fritz (Aviators), Tennys Sandgren (Kastles) and recent Winston-Salem finalist Steve Johnson (New York Empire) are among the unseeded players looking to make an impact.
On the doubles court, Sock leads the charge with Mike Bryan (Washington Kastles) as the third-seeded men‘s duo. The Wimbledon champions take their first crack at claiming back-to-back majors against Italians Daniele Bracciali and Marco Cecchinato. This year‘s WTT Male MVP Marcin Matkowski (Aviators) joins forces with David Marrero. The two meet Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry in their first-round match.
#WTTFamily members are involved with seven of the 16 women‘s doubles seeded pairings, with Gabriela Dabrowski (Freedoms) and Yifan Xu being the highest at No. 4. Dabrowski and Xu are winners of two WTA Premier titles in 2018 (Sydney and Eastbourne) and take on Lara Arruabarena and Renata Voracova.
Andreja Klepac (Breakers) and 2018 WTT Female Rookie of the Year Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Empire) are seeded fifth, while Wimbledon finalists Nicole Melichar (Kastles) and Kveta Peschke earned the No. 8 seed. Former trophy holder Vania King, who helped the Springfield Lasers win their first WTT championship, is seeded 11th alongside Katarina Srebotnik.
Women‘s Singles
Sloane Stephens (Freedoms), No. 3 seed
Venus Williams (Kastles), No. 16 seed
Naomi Osaka (Kastles), No. 20 seed
CoCo Vandeweghe (Aviators), No. 24 seed
Vania King (Lasers)
Madison Brengle (Kastles)
Tatjana Maria (Empire)
Nicole Gibbs (Breakers)
Taylor Townsend (Freedoms)
Yanina Wickmayer (Breakers)
Christina McHale (Kastles)
Women‘s Doubles
Gabriela Dabrowski (Freedoms) / Yifan Xu, No. 4 seeds
Andreja Klepac (Breakers) / Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Empire), No. 5 seeds
Nicole Melichar (Kastles) / Kveta Peschke, No. 8 seeds
Vania King (Lasers) / Katarina Srebotnik, No. 11 seeds
Abigail Spears (Lasers) / Alicja Rosolska, No. 12 seeds
CoCo Vandeweghe (Aviators) / Ashleigh Barty, No. 13 seeds
Raquel Atawo (Freedoms) / Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Aviators), No. 14 seeds
Tatjana Maria (Empire) / Heather Watson
Christina McHale (Kastles) / Caroline Dolehide
Taylor Townsend (Freedoms) / Alison Riske
Naomi Broady (Aviators) / Danielle Collins
Nicole Gibbs (Breakers) / Sabrina Santamaria
Men‘s Singles
Kevin Anderson (Freedoms), No. 5 seed
Jack Sock (Lasers), No. 18 seed
Steve Johnson (Empire)
Taylor Fritz (Aviators)
Sam Querrey (Breakers)
Frances Tiafoe (Kastles)
Mackenzie McDonald (Breakers)
Matt Ebden (Kastles)
Tennys Sandgren (Kastles)
Men‘s Doubles
Mike Bryan (Kastles) / Jack Sock (Lasers), No. 3 seeds
Tennys Sandgren (Kastles) / Austin Krajicek
Daniel Nestor (Breakers) / Bradley Klahn
Christian Harrison (Breakers) / Ryan Harrison
Neal Skupski (Empire) / Ken Skupski
Marcin Matkowski (Aviators) / David Marrero
Evan King (Breakers) / Nathan Pasha
Robert Lindstedt (Kastles) / Rajeev Ram
Mackenzie McDonald (Breakers) / Yoshihito Nishioka
Marcelo Demoliner (Lasers) / Santiago Gonzalez
Steve Johnson (Empire) / Denis Kudla
Kevin King (Freedoms) / Reilly Opelka
Matt Ebden (Kastles) / Jackson Withrow
Fabrice Martin (Freedoms) / Jeremy Chardy
