DESPITE an incredibly difficult 2020 for the American community, the Western and Southern Open is set to commence in New York on August 20. The competition, formerly known as the Cincinnati Masters, will take place at Flushing Meadows for the first time due to COVID-19 concerns. Although women’s world number one Ash Barty will not be participating because of the safety risks involved, a host of top-ranked players are set to compete at the Premier 5 event.

Reigning champion and world number 13 Madison Keys will be there to defend her title in what will be her first tournament since the Australian Open in January. Top ten-ranked players Karolina Pliskova (third), Sofia Kenin (fourth), Swiss talent Belinda Bencic (eighth) and 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams (ninth) will also be competing. Williams is not coming into the tournament in great form, as she had a surprising three-set loss to world number 116 Shelby Rogers in the quarter finals of the Top Seed Open on Saturday. This marked the first time in eight years that Williams has lost to a player ranked outside the top 100. She will be out to rectify this result in the coming days before aiming to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam championships at the US Open.

Another strong contender for the title is two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who was very impressive at the Australian Open earlier this year and made the final of the Qatar Open. World number 11 Aryna Sabalenka handed Kvitova a straight sets defeat in that decider, and she too will be out to recapture the fantastic tennis she was playing prior to the sport’s suspension. Up-and-coming American youngster Coco Gauff is a future superstar and has proven that she is already capable of beating high-quality players. She will be hoping to cause some upsets this week and have a strong preparation for her home grand slam.

Another interesting American player to watch will be Jennifer Brady. The now world number 40 won her first career title at the Top Seed Open earlier this week, defeating Gauff 6-2 6-4 in the semi-final and Jil Teichmann 6-3 6-4 in the final. She will aim to continue her outstanding return to tennis in New York. Other star players competing in the tournament include Great Britain’s Johanna Konta, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina and Croatia’s Donna Vekic.

Just like the Top Seed Open before it, the WTA has ruled that no spectators will be able to attend the Western and Southern Open. Strict health and safety protocols have been put in place (including rigorous testing) to ensure that the US Open, which begins on the 1st of September, will not be impacted. It will be interesting to see whether these safety protocols are significant enough to protect the participants, particularly after the nightmarish Adria Tour exhibition tournament staged in June without precautions by men’s world number one Novak Djokovic. The Western and Southern Open draw is yet to be announced.  

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