The U.S. Open has announced its singles wild cards for 2025, led by two-time champion Venus Williams, who will make her 25th main-draw appearance at the age of 45.

Williams, who made her return to tennis after 16 months out at July’s Citi Open in Washington, D.C., won the tournament in 2000 and 2001. She beat then-world No. 35 Peyton Stearns in her first match back, before losing to Magdalena Fręch of Poland. She then received a wild card into the Cincinnati Open, where she lost to Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain.

Fellow Americans Clervie Ngounoue, Julieta Pareja and Alyssa Ahn also received direct wild cards. Pareja, 16, is the junior world No. 1, while Ngounoue, 19 and a former junior world No. 1 herself, posted her first WTA Tour main-draw win at this month’s Cincinnati Open.

On the men’s side, Brandon Holt, Nishesh Basavareddy and Tristan Boyer received direct wild cards, along with Darwin Blanch. Basavareddy, 20, played in the Australian Open main draw earlier this year, taking a set off Novak Djokovic before losing in the opening round; Holt is the highest-ranked of the wild cards across the men’s and women’s singles draws, at world No. 99.

Caty McNally and Emilio Nava won the U.S. Tennis Association’s “Wild Card Challenge,” which rewards performance in hard-court events in the run-up to the tournament. McNally, 23 who had elbow surgery in 2024, will make her first main-draw appearance since 2021; Nava, 23, last made the main draw in 2023.

Reciprocal arrangements with the French and Australian tennis associations see Caroline Garcia and Talia Gibson join the women’s quotient, while Valentin Royer and Tristan Schoolkate round out the men’s. Valerie Glozman of Stanford and Stefan Dostanic of Wake Forest won the college tennis wild card playoffs earlier this year, and also enter the main draw.

Of the home hopes, Blanch’s selection stands out. Widely regarded as one of the most promising rising talents in American men’s junior tennis, the 17-year-old did not receive a wild card last year. He did get into two ATP main draws through his links to IMG at the Madrid and Miami Opens, both of which are one rung below a Grand Slam. He lost 6-1, 6-0 to Rafael Nadal in Madrid.

The main draw begins Sunday Aug. 24 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in Flushing Meadows. Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner are the defending women’s and men’s singles champions.

‘Even more of a leg up for the most powerful tennis nations’

Analysis from Charlie Eccleshare, tennis writer

Tennis wild card announcements are always fairly contentious, especially at the Grand Slams. Ordinarily, giving one to a 45-year-old who has barely played over the last year would fit squarely in that category.

But Venus Williams is a bit of a law unto herself, and the fact that she won a singles match against a top-40 player in her comeback event last month shows that she is not just planning to have a hit and giggle. Winning seven major titles also affords certain privileges, even if some will feel wildcards should be reserved for promising youngsters.

There are plenty of those on the list, and Darwin Blanch is particularly exciting, having long been spoken about as the next big thing in American men’s tennis.

One surprise omission is the two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová, who announced her retirement in June and said her plan was to retire at the U.S. Open. Caroline Garcia, who confirmed her own retirement a few weeks earlier, does get a wildcard, by taking one of the reciprocal ones that is awarded to a French player each year.

These reciprocal arrangements feel the opposite of wild, giving players from the most powerful tennis nations even more of a leg-up, instead of platforming a player from a comparatively underfunded country or region in the tennis world. At the end of a summer in which Victoria Mboko won the Canadian Open as a wild card, and Williams thrilled the Washington, D.C. crowd as one, all eyes will be on whether one of the fortunate 16 on today’s list can do something similar in New York over the next couple of weeks.

(Photo: Nick Wassi / Associated Press)