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It has become a feature, not a bug, of Grand Slam entry lists these days.

And as the USTA released the preliminary “top 104” who earned direct entry into next month’s US Open by their ranking, the theme continues.

Being ranked in the top 100 no longer guarantees you one of those 104 spots.

And the fact that there’s a financial incentive to withdraw at the last minute means that those players don’t have much chance to move up as alternates, and have to take their chances in the qualifying.

The Men

The last direct entry is Belgian veteran David Goffin, who knows a thing or two about having to brave the qualifying. Goffin’s ranking was well into the top 100 by the time Wimbledon came around, but not at the entry deadline. But he couldn’t squeeze in, lost in the final round of qualifying and didn’t make it – ending up in as a lucky loser, which is a slippery slope.

There is a total of – highlighted by the guy at No. 9, Rafael Nadal.

After him, there is Pablo Carreño Busta (No. 18), Denis Shapovalov (No. 27), Reilly Opelka (No. 33), Soonwoo Kwo (No. 80) and Dominic Stricker (No. 94).

Left on the ledge are American Mackenzie McDonald at No. 99, Francisco Comesana at No. 100, and Lloyd Harris at No. 101.

Also: Stan Wawrinka, who just slipped out of the top 100, is seven spots out. Aslan Karatsev is 12 out.

Richard Gasquet and former champion Dominic Thiem are way down the list, as are Andy Murray and Christopher Eubanks (the latter two, you would think, could get wild cards if they want them).

So is Milos Raonic, who is entered (as he was at Wimbledon), with his actual ranking of No. 177.

The ATP rules do not limit the use of a protected ranking to two Grand Slam tournaments. But they prohibit the use of it at the same Grand Slam more than once; that was his problem at Wimbledon.

It seems a long time ago. But Raonic actually did play the US Open a year ago, getting a tough draw and losing in the first round to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Women

On the women’s side, the cutoff is even tougher, as No. 96-ranked Sara Errani is the last one directly in.

The protected rankings are: Ajla Tomljanovic (No. 33), Zhang Shuai (No. 48), Shelby Rogers (No. 51), Lauren Davis (No. 59), Julia Grabher (No. 73), Kateryna Baindl (No. 86), Zheng Saisai (No. 89) and Wang Qiang (No. 95).

Left on the shelf are Renata Zarazua at No. 97, Anna Bondar at No. 98, Hailey Baptiste at No. 101 and even Naomi Osaka at No. 102.

Osaka, you would also think, gets a wild card if she wants one.

Caroline Wozniacki, who didn’t get a wild card for Roland Garros but did get one at Wimbledon, won’t need one in New York. She checks in at No. 76 after her effort on the grass.

Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 champion, isn’t even close to the main draw with her current ranking of No. 172. She is not entered with the protected ranking of No. 64 that she has been using to enter tournaments since her return to action at Roland Garros; WTA players are only allowed to use it for two Grand Slams. And she used it for Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

You would think that she, too, could get a wild card. But that’s all to be determined.

Among the notables on the qualifying list with protected rankings (at No. 109) will be Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure, who had knee issues that came to a head in January, took a break – and ran for political office.

Also on the alternates list with a No. 121 protected ranking is Nina Stojanovic, who was Novak Djokovic’s mixed doubles partner at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but missed 18 months from Nov. 2022, with arthroscopic hip surgery performed in June 2023.

Automatic entry rules

There will be changes to this list before it gets finalized, right before the start of the qualifying.

All players who qualify by ranking are automatically entered by the deadline, even if they don’t proactively enter. To NOT be included on this list, a player would have to proactively advise the U.S. officials before Monday’s deadline.

So there are players who may well not make the date, but certainly won’t exclude themselves six weeks before the start of play.

As well, some of the players on protected rankings also will not rock up and might withdraw before the start of the preliminaries. Many might not, waiting until the last minute as is their right.

Some might get injured during the summer – not that we wish this on anyone.

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