NEW YORK, NY, USA - Former World No.1 Serena Williams is seeded No.3 at the upcoming Western & Southern Open, which will, for the first time, take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Moved from the Linder Family Tennis Center, where it has been a Premier 5 tournament since 2009, the Western & Southern Open will take place at the typical site of the US Open, which itself will occur the following week.
Williams played her first official match since Fed Cup last week at the inaugural Top Seed Open presented by Bluegrass Orthopaedics, where she reached the quarterfinals with a win over big sister Venus, and will open her "Cincinnati" campaign against either Alison Van Uytvanck or a qualifier.
Looming in the quarterfinals is No.8 seed and British No.1 Johanna Konta, who lost just one game against the 23-time Grand Slam champion in their most recent meeting at the Mudabala Silicon Valley Classic in 2018. Konta also made her return to action in Lexington, where she fell to rising Czech star Marie Bouzkova in the first hurdle, and will begin her week against either Katerina Siniakova or a qualifier.
Rounding out the bottom half of the draw is reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who will play either Alizé Cornet or fellow American Catherine McNally in her opening round. Kenin enjoyed an epic start to her 2020 season, claiming her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne and following that up with a second title of the season at the Open 6ème Sens - Métropole de Lyon in France.
While the tours were suspended due to the pandemic, Kenin took part in the Credit One Bank Invitational in Charleston - typically the home of the Volvo Car Open - where she helped clinch victory for her team. No.7 seed defending champion Madison Keys is her projected quarterfinal opponent.
Former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova leads the field as the top seed, and will play either Veronika Kudermetova or Ajla Tomljanovic in her first match. Like Kenin, Pliskova also enjoyed solid form in exhibition play, winning a small event at home in the Czech Republic during the lockdown, and is projected to play No.5 seed and Qatar Total Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.
Sabalenka won the year's only other Premier 5 event in Doha, and made her return last week in Lexington, where she narrowly lost to teen talent Cori "Coco" Gauff in the second round.Top Seed Open champion Jennifer Brady is a possible third round opponent.
Also unseeded and looming is another wildcard in Venus Williams, who drew Ukrainian talent Dayana Yastremska in the first round, and is in No.4 seed Naomi Osaka's section of the draw. Osaka, the 2018 US Open champion, will play either Karolina Muchova or a qualifier to kick off her week.
Click here to check out the full draw.
