Former US Open champions Williams and Stephens to star at new WTA event
Former world number one Serena Williams will be among some of the star names to grace a new hardcourt tournament in Kentucky in August, organisers said on Friday.
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The Top Seed Open said Williams, winner of 23 Grand Slam tournaments, and the 2017 US Open winner, Sloane Stephens, will be in the field when play begins on 10 August in Nicholasville.
Top Seed Tennis Club is excited to announce that @serenawilliams will be joining the 2020 Top Seed Open! #TSOpenLex #TSTC #Advantageyou @WTA @CrackedRacquets @BGO_KY pic.twitter.com/xSAgAq58jg
— Top Seed Tennis Club (@TopSeedTennisKY) July 16, 2020
Williams, 38, has not played since representing the United States in the Fed Cup in February against Latvia.
The international tennis circuit shut down in March just before the Indian Wells tournament in California as part of the effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The WTA and the ATP - which run the women's and men's tours respectively - are scheduled to resume in August in the run-up to the US Open in New York.
Normally the last of the season's four Grand Slam tournaments, the 2020 tournament will be followed by the French Open in Paris.
French organisers postponed the clay court event until September due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The French Tennis Federation said earlier in July that a limited number of fans would be allowed to attend the competition which is due to start on 27 September.
However it said the policy on admitting spectators would be reviewed if there were a rise in the number of infections around France.
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