OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS, LAUREN DAVIS,
SOFIA KENIN, AND KAYLA DAY HIGHLIGHT WOMEN’S US OPEN
WILD CARD RECIPIENTS
Amanda Anisimova, Francesca Di Lorenzo, Nicole Frenkel, Ellie Halbauer,
Jamie Loeb, Raveena Kingsley, Melanie Oudin, Laura Robson
Receive US Open Qualifying Wild Cards
FLUSHING, N.Y., August 16, 2016 – The USTA today announced that two-time NCAA singles champion Danielle Collins, 2016 USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion Kayla Day, young American Lauren Davis, USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card challenge winner Sofia Kenin, former Top 50 player Vania King, and Rio’s mixed doubles Olympic gold medalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands have been awarded women’s singles main draw wild card entries into the 2016 US Open, as well as Virginie Razzano, of France. As part of a reciprocal agreement with the USTA, Tennis Australia will award one additional main draw wild card to a player who will be announced at a later date.
The 2016 US Open will be played August 29-September 11 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Both the men’s and women’s singles champions this year will earn $3.5 million, with the ability to earn an additional $1 million in bonus prize money – for a total $4.5 million potential payout – based on their performances in the Emirates Airline US Open Series.
Collins, 22, of St. Petersburg, Fla., won the NCAA singles title this year as a senior at the University of Virginia. She also won the NCAA singles title in 2014 (the first player in school history to win the title), earning a wild card into the US Open, where she faced then-No. 2 seed Simona Halep in the first round and won the first set in a tiebreak. Collins went 38-4 in singles this season and earned her third All-America singles honor. She is not ranked.
Day, 16, of Santa Barbara, Calif., ranked No. 424, is the 2016 USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion. She is currently the No. 5-ranked junior in the world and reached the girls’ semifinals at Wimbledon this summer. She will make her Grand Slam singles main draw debut at the US Open and will look to follow predecessors CiCi Bellis (2014) and Sachia Vickery (2013) as USTA Girls’ 18s national champions to win their first round matches at the US Open.
Davis, 22, of Boca Raton, Fla., ranked No. 102, has played in four US Open main draws and peaked at No. 43 in the world in July 2014. She reached her first WTA final at the Citi Open in Washington D.C., this summer and also advanced to the third round of the Australian Open this year.
Kenin, 17, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., ranked No. 246, won the 2016 USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Challenge. Kenin was the 2015 USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion, earning a wild card into last year’s US Open. She also reached the singles final at the 2015 US Open Junior Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals of junior Wimbledon earlier this year. Kenin has climbed as high as No. 2 in the ITF World Junior Rankings and won her first USTA Pro Circuit singles title in January.
King, 27, of Boynton Beach, Fla., is currently ranked No. 88 after reaching the final of the WTA event in Nanchang, China, in August. King returned to competition in August 2015 for the first time since the 2014 US Open, where she lost in the second round to Serena Williams. She had been out since with a hip injury. King has ranked as high as No. 50 in the world in singles and No. 3 in doubles, winning the women’s doubles titles at the US Open and Wimbledon in 2010. In her career, she has won 15 WTA doubles titles and one singles title (Bangkok in 2006) and has competed in every US Open since 2005.
Mattek-Sands, 31, of Phoenix, ranked No. 109, won the mixed doubles gold medal at the Rio Olympics with Jack Sock. In 2015, Mattek-Sands won the Australian Open and French Open women’s doubles titles (with Lucie Safarova) and the French Open mixed doubles title (with Mike Bryan), peaking at No. 3 in the world in doubles in August 2015. She holds 19 WTA doubles titles overall. In singles, Mattek-Sands will be competing in her 15th US Open main draw and reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2008 and the French Open in 2013. In 2011, she was ranked a career-high No. 30 in the world in singles before being sidelined by a rotator cuff injury.
Razzano, 33, received her wild card through a reciprocal agreement with the French Tennis Federation. She is ranked No. 165 and peaked at No. 16 in the world in 2009. She has competed in 14 US Open main draws (2001-2014).
In addition to the eight US Open women’s singles main draw wild cards, the USTA also announced the eight women who have been awarded wild card entries into the US Open Qualifying Tournament, which will be held August 23-26 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. One additional US Open qualifying wild card will be awarded to the winner of the 2015 US Open National Playoffs – Women’s Championship, taking place August 19-22 in New Haven, Conn.
Players receiving US Open qualifying wild cards are: world No. 4 junior and 2016 junior French Open finalist Amanda Anisimova (14, Hallandale Beach, Fla.); 2015 junior US Open semifinalist and Ohio State standout Francesca Di Lorenzo (19, New Albany, Ohio); 2016 USTA Girls’ 18s finalist Nicole Frenkel (18, Winchester, Mass.); teenager Ellie Halbauer (19, Daniel Island, S.C.); 2015 NCAA singles champion Jamie Loeb (21, Ossining, N.Y); teenager Raveena Kingsley (18, Baltimore); 2009 US Open quarterfinalist and former world No. 31 Melanie Oudin (24, Marietta, Ga.); and Great Britain’s Laura Robson (22, London).
