US Open men’s wild cards announced (updated)

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In yet another sign that the US Open is going full speed ahead, the USTA announced the wild cards for the men and women’s singles Thursday.

These are especially crucial this year, being the only opportunity a player outside the top 130 has to make the main draw with the cancellation of the qualifying tournament.

Also notable is the the traditional “reciprocal” wild cards set out for the French and Australian tennis federations are not a thing this year.

On the men’s side, the list of eight is led by 2012 champion Andy Murray.

Currently ranked No. 129, Murray is actually the next player into the main draw as soon as someone withdraws – which is inevitable. So it’s likely he won’t need it.

(UPDATE: Murray is in with the withdrawal of Alexei Popyrin)

https://opencourt.ca/wordpress/2020/08/06/us-open-womens-wild-cards-announced/

Eight men’s wild cards

Brandon Nakashima, 19, showed his potential during World Team Tennis for the Chicago Smash. His ranking of No. 220 is more than 500 spots higher than it was eight months ago, after he reached the quarterfinals at the Delray Beach Open in February.

Sebastian Korda, 20, is the son of former Australian Open champion Petr Korda and is ranked No. 220. He’s the 2018 Australian Open boys’ champion.

JJ Wolf, 21, of Cincinnati, is the highest ranked of the young Americans at No. 144. He was on a roll early in 2020, going 15-3 in singles and winning two Challenger titles in singles.ranked No. 144.

Ulises Blanch, 22, is ranked No. 242. He’s another up-and-comer whose momentum was stopped by the coronavirus. He went 17-6 in singles to start 2020, including a win at the Challenger level in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michael Mmoh, 22 was on his way a few years ago before injuries hit him. His career high is No. 96, but that was nearly two years ago.

Maxime Cressy, 23, is a dual French-American citizen who won the Drummondville Challenger just before the shutdown. He starred at UCLA for four years and was an NCAA doubles champion as a senior a year ago.

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, at 25, is the oldest of the American to get wild cards. He’s ranked No. 183. He won the Newport Beach Challenger in January (before Oracle dropped its much-appreciated sponsorship at the Challenger level).

A few names overlooked

The USTA’s decisions did not go strictly by order of ranking merit, as several players were bypassed.

Left out was 26-year-old Mitchell Krueger. As well, both Noah Rubin and Christopher Eubanks were skipped over in favour of Blanch.

(UPDATE: With the promotion of Murray to the main draw, Krueger got the now available wild card. Ernesto Escobedo, who was way up the above list, is next in line).

Rubin, in particular, is almost a local as he’s a Long Island native.

One of them should get the nod when Murray gets straight into the draw.

Mackenzie McDonald is in with a protected ranking.

Looks like we know what Ernesto Escobedo thinks, via his Instagram.

 

 

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