US Open 2023: Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki handed wildcards to Flushing Meadows

The final Grand Slam of the year gets underway on August 28 in New York, with the pair set to be added to the main women’s singles draw.

Williams is a two-time champion of the event having lifted back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001 and will be making her 24th appearance in her home slam.

The 43-year-old lost in the first round of Wimbledon in her only Grand Slam appearance of 2023 so far and exited at the same stage in last year’s US Open.

She has an 80 per cent winning record at Flushing Meadows that includes 79 wins and reached the semi-finals as recently as 2017.

Williams will be joined in the main draw by Wozniacki, who is continuing her comeback to tennis after retiring following a third-round loss at the 2020 Australian Open.

“Three years ago, having achieved almost everything I’d ever set out to do, I walked away from the professional tour. I wanted to start a family, and I needed a break. I had no idea how long that break would last,” Wozniacki said.

“But then, one day late last year, I found myself setting up a couple of sessions on the court. And when my dad visited me in Florida, I realised I needed advice.

“I hit for 20, 30 minutes – I’m not sure how long, but at one point I looked at him and said, ‘I feel like I’m hitting it better than I ever have. Am I making that up?’

“He said I wasn’t making that up. And that’s when I knew I had to get back out there.”

She returned at the Canadian Open and won her opening match before losing in straight sets to reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the second round.

Wozniacki, 33, also played in the Cincinnati Masters, where she lost 6-4 6-4 in the first round to Varvara Gracheva.

The Dane was the top-ranked female in the world for 71 weeks and won a maiden Grand Slam at the 2018 Australian Open.

She is set to make her 14th appearance at Flushing Meadows having previously reached the final in 2009 and 2014.

The US Open gets underway on August 28 and finishes on September 10.