Into the Great Wide Open: Player Entry into the U.S. Open

The U.S. Open main draw consists of 256 players, 128 on the men’s side and 128 on the women’s. Of those 256, 208 (104 men and 104 women) are entered into the tournament by direct entry. Direct entry admission is determined by world ranking, though several factors can affect the final list. In the 2010 men’s draw, the Top 98 ranked players received direct entry and six others—Tommy Haas, David Nalbandian, Dmitry Tursunov, Mario Ancic, Maximo Gonzalez and Kristof Vliegen—gained admittance as a result of protected rankings. In the women’s draw, the Top 101 ranked players were entered by direct entry. Anne Keothavong, Urszula Radwanska and Jelena Kostanic Tosic also gained entry due to special rankings.

The draw’s remaining 48 slots are comprised of wild card selections and qualifiers. The USTA awards 16 wild cards (eight men and eight women) to players of its choosing. The final 32 spots are given to those who win three matches in the qualifying tournament held the week prior to the first round. The U.S. Open qualifying tournament, made up of 128 men and 128 women, includes the highest-ranked players that didn’t receive a direct entry bid, as well as the winners of the U.S. Open National Playoffs, which was held for the first time in 2010. The 2010 qualifying tournament is scheduled to take place Aug. 24–27.