The Top Seed Open is scheduled to be held from Aug. 10-17 in Lexington, Ky.
Serena Williams will return to action next week at the inaugural Top Seed Open following tennis' coronavirus-induced hiatus.
Williams headlines the inaugural field, which includes her sister Venus, 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, American teenager Coco Gauff and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka. The tournament, which will be held at the Top Seed Tennis Club in Lexington, Ky., comes after a five-month hiatus for the WTA in America.
Serena Williams, 38, was one of the first players to publically support the USTA's decision to return to competition amid the pandemic. The Top Seed Open will be the first U.S.-based WTA tournament held since the Oracle Challenger Series on March 2-8. The 23-time Grand Slam winner has had a slightly longer break, considering she last played in the Fed Cup in February.
Following the Kentucky tournament, Williams will also headline the entry list for the Western & Southern Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. The event, which will be a tuneup before the U.S. Open., is normally played in Cincinnati. However, organizers moved it to New York to keep events in one place, with the aim of creating a safer environment for players amid the pandemic.
The clay-court Palermo Ladies Open, which is currently underway, is the first WTA event since the sport came to a halt in March. However, the lead-up to the U.S. Open will ramp up on the hard-court Kentucky tournament.
The Top Seed Open is scheduled to be held from Aug. 10-17.