{"id":79845,"date":"2022-07-20T13:39:49","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T13:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=79845"},"modified":"2022-07-20T13:39:49","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T13:39:49","slug":"serena-djokovic-named-in-cincinnati-draws-organizers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=79845","title":{"rendered":"Serena, Djokovic named in Cincinnati draws: organizers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sports Desk:<\/strong> Serena Williams will play in next month's Cincinnati Open WTA tournament as she builds towards a possible US Open appearance, organizers said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, who last week was named in the field for next month's Canadian Open, joins a star-studded field for the hardcourt tournament.<\/p>\n

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Williams, winner of the tournament in 2014 and 2015, entered the tournament using her protected ranking.<\/p>\n

The former world number one — who played her first singles match in a year during a first round defeat at Wimbledon last month — is stepping up her comeback ahead of the US Open next month.<\/p>\n

Joining her in the field for the August 13-21 tournament in Cincinnati will be world number one Iga Swiatek and former champions including Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys, Garbine Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova.<\/p>\n

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, four-time major champion Naomi Osaka and reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu are also in the line-up.<\/p>\n

The men's draw meanwhile includes newly minted Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, but unless the Serbian star changes his stance over refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine, he will not play.<\/p>\n

Current US regulations forbid entry to the country by non-vaccinated foreign visitors, and Djokovic has previously said he has no plans to back down from his stance.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month he acknowledged he was unlikely to play in the United States unless entry requirements changed.<\/p>\n

“I'd like to play the US Open but if it doesn't happen it's not the end of the world, nor the first Grand Slam I have to withdraw from,” Djokovic said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports Desk: Serena Williams will play in next month’s Cincinnati Open WTA tournament as she builds towards a possible US Open appearance, organizers said Tuesday. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, who last week was named in the field for next month’s Canadian Open, joins a star-studded field for the hardcourt tournament. Williams, winner of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":79846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n