Tennis

Naomi Osaka One Of Four Former Champions Handed US Open Wildcards

Osaka, who lost in the final round of qualifying for the Cincinnati Open, won the first of her four grand slam titles at Flushing Meadows in 2018, winning again two years later

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Naomi Osaka has been handed a wild card at this month's US Open
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Two-time champion Naomi Osaka and fellow former winners Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem and Bianca Andreescu were given wildcards for the upcoming US Open. (More Tennis News)

Osaka, who lost in the final round of qualifying for the Cincinnati Open, won the first of her four grand slam titles at Flushing Meadows in 2018, winning again two years later. 

The former world number one returned to the tour this season after giving birth last year, but has struggled to find the form that led her to climb to the top of the rankings. 

The Japanese is now ranked 90th in the WTA rankings, with her best finishes coming in Doha and 's-Hertogenbosch where she reached the quarter-finals in both. 

She will be joined in the women's singles by Canada's Andreescu, who was crowned the US Open champion after her win over Serena Williams in 2019. 

The 24-year-old returned to action this year after missing nine months due to a back injury and reached the French Open third round in her first event back.

Meanwhile, Thiem headlines the wildcards in the men's singles in what will be the final grand slam of his career after confirming he will retire at the end of the season. 

The Austrian won the US Open in 2020 in an epic five-match thriller against Alexander Zverev, but has failed to his best form after sustaining a wrist injury three years ago. 

Also returning thanks to a wildcard is Wawrinka, eight years on from when he claimed the title in New York against Novak Djokovic at Flushing Meadows. 

The 39-year-old's triumph in the United States was the latest of his three career grand slams, having previously prevailed at the Australian Open and French Open.