Serena Williams will play the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati next month thanks to her protected ranking, event organisers have confirmed.
Williams, 40, is also set to play at the National Bank Open in Toronto from August 6-14 after she elected to use the protected ranking system to enter that event.
Williams, who returned to the Tour last month after a year out, but fell in the first round at Wimbledon, has won the tournament in Cincinnati twice, in 2014 and 2015.
The event will also see current world No.1’s, Daniil Medvedev and Iga Swiatek play.
Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys, Garbine Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova are in the women’s draw, along with Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Jelena Ostapenko, Barbora Krejcikova, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova and new Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
