Sharapova, Williams sisters head US Open

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP)—Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are among the five past U.S. Open women’s champions in the tournament field announced Thursday.

Lindsay Davenport and Svetlana Kuznetsova are the other previous winners entered in the hard-court Grand Slam tournament, which begins Aug. 25.

Top-ranked Ana Ivanovic, the reigning French Open champion, heads a group that includes 99 of the top 100 women in the rankings. The exception: No. 98 Akiko Morigami of Japan did not enter the field because of knee surgery.

Along with the 104 players who received direct entry based on Monday’s rankings, eight women will receive wild cards and 16 will earn berths in qualifying.

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