Serena Williams to headline new WTA event in Lexington

Lexington (US), July 17 (IANS): Twenty three-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams will make her return to WTA tennis at the upcoming inaugural edition of the Top Seed Open.

The tournament organisers announced on Thursday that US Open champions Williams and Sloane Stephens are set to compete at the event set to begin on August 10 in Lexington, Kentucky.

The event will be Williams’ first match action since she helped Team USA defeat Latvia in Fed Cup in February, where she defeated Jelena Ostapenko and was beaten by Anastasija Sevastova.

She had previously confirmed her intentions to chase a 24th Grand Slam title at the US Open beginning August 31, saying that she “cannot wait” to return to the Flushing Meadows.

The Kentucky tournament was one of two new events confirmed by WTA chief executive Steve Simon last week as additions to the tour’s revamped calendar which will resume with the Palermo Open in Italy on August 3. The US Open, which will be played behind closed-doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will feature the men’s and women’s singles main-draw events, each with the traditional 128 players, and men’s and women’s doubles events, with 32 teams in each competition (down from 64 teams).