From Maxime Cressy and Aleks Kovacevic to Diana Shnaider, US Open 2023 set to feature 31 players with college tennis ties in qualifying draw

The 2023 US Open qualifying draw will commence on Tuesday, August 22. This time around, the New York Major will witness a bunch of male and female players with college tennis ties take part in the draw.

The qualifiers will feature 128 players in both the men's and women's tours, out of whom 16 will earn a spot in the main draw by the end of Friday, August 25. Out of the 128 players, 31 of them have ties to college tennis.

Taking to social media on Tuesday, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association shared the news, extending their wishes for the young players on the national stage.

"College Tennis on the National Stage. Good luck to the over 30 players with college tennis ties competing in @usopen qualifying play beginning today!" ITA wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

On the ATP Tour, Maxime Cressy (representing UCLA), Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois), and Gabriel Diallo (Kentucky) are some of the popular names among the collegians. They will enter the main draw as seeded players, as they currently rank within the top 150 in the world.

Cressy, Kovacevic, and Diallo will face Vit Kopriva, Wu Tung-lin, and Kimmer Coppejans in their respective first-round qualifier matches, all of which are set to take place on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, German Open semifinalist Diana Shnaider (NC State), Emina Bektas (Michigan), and Aliona Bolsova (FAU, Oklahoma State) are some of the seeded players on the women's tour. They will commence their qualifying draw matches on Wednesday as well.

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US Open stands firm on continuing with two night matches despite players' repeated concerns

A general view of the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2022 US Open

The US Open organizers have stood firm in their decision to schedule two matches during the night, despite players expressing concerns over late-night conclusions affecting their recovery sessions.

WTA stars Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina are some of the players who have voiced their concerns over the untimely charting of matches.

However, the US Open recently released an official statement about sticking to the current schedule and that commencing the evening session at 6 PM instead of 7 PM will make it difficult for New York fans to reach the venue on time.

"We looked at the start time of the match. Could we start the evening session earlier, instead of 7, start it at 6? We decided that's not really a possibility because it's hard for New Yorkers to get here even by 7," tournament director Stacey Allaster said.

The US Open main draw will commence on August 28, Monday. It remains to be seen how the players will cope with the jammed schedule this time around.