NEW YORK — Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray was one of four men given wild-card entries Monday for the Western & Southern Open, the tuneup tournament that will be held at Flushing Meadows before the US Open.
Murray won the Western & Southern Open in 2008 and 2011. The hard-court event is usually held in Cincinnati but is moving to the site of the US Open as part of efforts to hold professional tennis competition during the coronavirus pandemic.
Also getting wild cards for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament: Tommy Paul, Tennys Sandgren and Frances Tiafoe.
Main-draw play will run from Aug. 22-28. The US Open begins Aug. 31.
Murray, 33, has twice had hip operations and hasn’t played an official tour match since the Davis Cup in November. He won Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016 and the US Open in 2012.
The Western & Southern Open will be the first official event on the men’s tour in more than five months.
Sanctioned tennis went on hiatus in March because of the pandemic, and the women’s tour is returning this week in Palermo, Italy.