Grand Slam Champions, Local Stearns Earn Wild Cards

A pair of Grand Slam champions – Caroline Wozniacki and Bianca Andreescu – and two Midwestern rising stars – Peyton Stearns and Caroline Dolehide – have been awarded main draw wild cards for the Aug. 11-19 Cincinnati Open. Qualifying wild cards have been awarded to American Taylor Townsend and Canadian Marina Stakusic. The four main draw wild cards join a field of initial entrants that is led by World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 2 Coco Gauff, the Cincinnati Open defending champion.

The winner of 30 career titles, Wozniacki returns to Cincinnati where she made her WTA debut in 2005 at the age of 15. A two-time US Open finalist, she was the 2018 Australian Open champion. The Denmark native spent 71 weeks at the No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings.

Andreescu, a 24-year-old Canadian, won the US Open in 2019. She claimed two other titles that season while climbing to a career high ranking of No. 4. In June, she reached the finals at the grass court event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Andreescu and Wozniacki were two of the 115 Cincinnati Open entrants who participated in the Paris Olympics.

Stearns, a 22-year-old who grew up in Mason, Ohio, won her first career WTA title at Rabat, Morocco, in May. Stearns played two seasons at the University of Texas, leading the Longhorns to back-to-back NCAA team titles and she was also the 2022 NCAA singles champion.

Dolehide is a 25-year-old from the Chicago area. She reached the semifinals last week in Washington, D.C., and earlier this season was a quarterfinalist in Birmingham, Great Britain, after advancing to her first WTA final at Guadalajara last fall. In doubles, she reached the semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Townsend reached her career high ranking in April of this season. Since giving birth to her son in March 2021, she has won four ITF titles. In doubles, she won the 2023 Cincinnati Open (with Alycia Parks) and Wimbledon last month (with Katerina Siniakova).

Stakusic helped Canada clinch its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup title in 2023 by winning three of her four singles matches during the season. The 19-year-old also won three ITF titles last season.

The entrants for the Cincinnati Open men’s field include every player in the Top 40 of the rankings, led by No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 2 Novak Djokovic, a three-time Cincinnati Open champion who will be looking to defend his 2023 title.

The 2024 tournament will get underway Saturday, Aug. 10, with Community Day, offering fans early access to the venue to watch practice sessions and participate in a number of special activities.