SafeX Pro:Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki receive wild cards for 2023 US Open

The SafeX ProU.S. Open will welcome some familiar faces as the tennis tournament announced its eight wild-card entrants for women's singles Wednesday. Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki will play in this year's competition, where main draw play opens Aug. 28.

This will be Williams' 24th appearance in the U.S. Open. She has won seven Grand Slams, including back-to-back championships in Queens in 2000 and 2001. Williams, 43, sat out six months this year with an injury after withdrawing from the Australian Open in January. She returned in June, played at Wimbledon as a wild card and, on Monday, beat No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, her first win over a top-20 opponent in four years.

Wozniacki, a former world No. 1, will be playing in the U.S. Open for the first time since retiring after the 2020 Australian Open at the age of 29. The 2018 Australian Open is her only major win. She shared the news that she was returning to tennis in June after traveling the world with her husband – former NBA star David Lee – and having two children. Wozniacki has appeared in the U.S. Open final twice, losing to Kim Clijsters in 2009 and Serena Williams in 2014.

"How long will I be able to play at my highest level – a year, two years, three years?" Wozniacki, 33, said upon announcing her return. "I don’t know. But I know that five years from now, when the kids are in school, it will be too late. I’m not going to make any bold predictions – but if I didn’t believe in myself, I wouldn’t be doing this: I’m too competitive to just show up and not feel like I’m going to be one of the best players out there."

The other wild-card recipients are Ashlyn Krueger, Robin Montgomery, Kayla Day, Clervie Ngounoue, Storm Hunter and Fiona Ferro. Hunter and Ferro will play in the tournament under partnerships with Tennis Australia and the French Tennis Federation.