BREAKING TENNIS NEWS AS SERENA WILLIAMS ACCEPTS A WILD CARD INTO THE CINCINNATI EVENT – THE WESTERN AND SOUTHERN OPEN

Written by: Staff on 11th August 2016

BREAKING TENNIS NEWS AS SERENA WILLIAMS ACCEPTS A WILD CARD INTO THE CINCINNATI EVENT - THE WESTERN AND SOUTHERN OPEN

epa05462168 Serena Williams of the USA in action against Daria Gavrilova of Australia during their first round match at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Tennis events at the Olympic Tennis Centre in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 07 August 2016. EPA/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI HUNGARY OUT |

SERENA WILLIAMS ACCEPTS WILD CARD INTO WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

Two-time defending champion set to defend titles as top seed

Two-time defending champion Serena Williams has accepted a wild card into the 2016 Western & Southern Open. Williams, the WTA’s No. 1 player, will be the top seed for next week’s tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

“We are thrilled Serena is returning to defend her titles,” said tournament director Andre Silva. “She is a fan favorite wherever she goes, especially here in Cincinnati as the reigning champion.”

Williams will enter this year’s tournament on a 10-match winning streak in Cincinnati, having dropped just two sets in winning consecutive titles. In 2015, Williams defeated Simona Halep in the final after downing Ana Ivanovic in the 2014 title match.

This year, Williams will be bidding to reach a fourth straight final at the Western & Southern Open. In 2013, she finished as runner-up to Victoria Azarenka. Overall, she has a 21-6 record in eight appearances in Cincinnati.

The singles draws for the Western & Southern Open will be made Friday evening. Play begins with the opening round of qualifying at 10 am on Saturday, August 13.

Tickets and grounds passes remain available for the 2016 tournament and can be purchased at wsopen.com or at Ticketmaster.

Editors Note – we see this as a smart move by SERENA. It’s a great U.S. Open warm up. It’s worth points in the U.S. Open series and it has Graeters ice cream in site. It doesn’t get better than that folks.

About the Western & Southern Open

The Western & Southern Open will be held August 13-21, 2016, at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, 20 miles north of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. The tournament is one of the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 events on the men’s tour and a Premier 5 event for the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), making it one of only five events in the world outside of the grand slams with events of that caliber occurring during the same week at the same venue. More than 67 million people watch the event worldwide. The tournament is also one of the last stops on the Emirates Airline US Open Series before the US Open in New York. Since 1974, the tournament has contributed more nearly $10 million directly to its beneficiaries: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Barrett Cancer Center and Tennis for City Youth.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Cincinnati Open, Serena Williams, Tennis News, Western & Southern Open