Serena gets top billing

Defending champion Serena Williams heads a list of players entered into next month’s US Open, organisers said on Friday. The official e...

Defending champion Serena Williams heads a list of players entered into next month’s US Open, organisers said on Friday.

The official entry list features four top 10 Americans — Serena, elder sister Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati — who between them have won 15 of the last 17 Grand Slam women’s singles titles. Serena has won five of the last six majors.

Anna Kournikova has not entered the hard court Grand Slam, however. Now ranked 76th in the world, the Russian is suffering from a persistent back injury.

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Angelika Roesch of Germany was the last player, ranked 107th last week, accepted directly into the women’s field of 128.

Sixteen more players will gain entry through the qualifying rounds, over August 19-22, while the remaining eight spots are wildcard entries awarded by the USTA. Seedings will be based on the August 18 WTA rankings. The draw will take place Wednesday, August 20. The 2003 US Open runs from August 25 to September 7.

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