One week prior to the US Open, various contenders are seeking to get even sharper

WATCH: Last week in Montreal, Leylah Fernandez lost to Danielle Collins in the third round.

The decision to enter a tournament the week before the start of a Grand Slam is one of the more complicated choices a pro tennis player will ever make. Rewarding as it can be to ride the wave of yet a few more days of competition, there’s also the risk of surfacing flat at a major. On the other hand, one great week of tennis just prior to a big event can go a long way towards building confidence–particularly amid a series of recent lackluster results.

Here’s a look at several notable pros competing Sunday in a pair of Hologic WTA Tour and ATP Tour events–the women at Tennis in the Land in Cleveland, the men at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina.

WTA Cleveland: 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez hopes to rise again

Back in 2021, Leylah Fernandez reached the final of the US Open. But having attained a career high of No. 13 last August, Fernandez is now ranked No. 72. In six Slams since that New York effort, only once has she gone past the second round, reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last spring. This year at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Fernandez lost two three-setters in the second round, including a third-set tiebreaker on the grass versus world No. 5 Caroline Garcia.

The left-handed Fernandez is one of the hardest-working players on the tour, her intensity figuratively sizzling off the court.  Can that strong devotion translate into sustainable results? Sunday she’ll have a first-time meeting with No. 50 Linda Noskova.  The 18-year-old Noskova started off August with a run to the finals of a WTA 250 event in Prague.

Also in action Sunday: Cleveland’s fourth seed, 21st-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova. At the age of 28, Alexandrova delivered testimony to the power of persistence earlier this summer when she reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon–her first trek that far after having gone 0-6 in third round matches at the majors. Alexandrova’s opponent is another veteran, 29-year-old Patricia Maria Tig. Ranked as high as No. 56 in the fall of 2020, Tig has since fallen to a current spot of No. 704.

Interestingly, as long as these two have each been on the tour, they’ve never played one another.

But as the tournament continues this coming week, pay attention to a fascinating cross-generational matchup between 43-year-old Venus Williams and 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. In 2001, Williams won her second straight US Open singles title–more than five years before Andreeva was born. Currently ranked No. 533 in the world, Williams last week in Cincinnati upset 16th-ranked Veronika Kudermetova and is entered in Cleveland as a wild card.

Having soared this year from No. 405 at the end of 2022 to a current spot of No.67, Andreeva is making her North American WTA main-draw debut, so it will be interesting to see how she handles both that occasion and the pressure of competing versus a tennis legend.

As Martina Navratilova once said, “You need to play the ball, not the resume.” Not always easy.

ATP Winston-Salem: Young Americans

Alex Michelsen, a fast-rising 18-year-old from Southern California, reached the finals in Newport last month and has been given a wild card into Winston-Salem. Having shot up the ranks from No. 526 in late January to his current spot of No. 138, only two weeks ago, Michelsen opted to turn pro and pass up a scholarship at the University of Georgia.

In his Newport run, Michelsen showed impressive poise and tactical acuity to beat such experienced opponents as Maxime Cressy, James Duckworth, Mackenzie McDonald, and John Isner. Hungry for as much tennis as possible in this early stage of his career, Michelsen kicks it off in Winston-Salem versus No. 74 Juan Pablo Varillas.

Then there’s another promising, but more experienced, Southern Californian, 22-year-old Brandon Nakashima. Ranked as high as 43 last October, Nakashima now occupies a spot 30 places lower and this year has only once won two matches at the same event. His opening opponent in Winston-Salem will be a veteran, 30-year-old Australian Jason Kubler. Currently ranked No. 85 in the world, Kubler earlier this year won the Australian Open doubles title alongside fellow Aussie Rinky Hijikata.

This will be Kubler’s first main draw singles match since Wimbledon.