Opelka set for return for first time in a year at US Open as Brady also set for Grand Slam return

Reilly Opelka and Jennifer Brady will be making their long-awaited returns to Grand Slam competition in the 2023 US Open, thanks to their protected rankings.

American tennis players Opelka and Brady will be among the notable comebacks to the tour in the upcoming US Open, which begins on August 28th.

Reilly Opelka will be utilizing his protected ranking after being sidelined for more than 6 months due to an injury. With this, Opelka entered the 33rd position in the ATP rankings, which corresponds to Jiri Lehecka, just behind the Czech player on the list.

Opelka has not competed since the ATP 500 Washington Open in early August of last year. On that occasion, he won the first round by defeating his compatriot Denis Kudla, but was eliminated in the second round by eventual champion Nick Kyrgios.

The American underwent hip surgery shortly after that tournament and is now set to return to the courts as his recovery is expected to be completed, although he is not currently entered in any tournaments prior to the US Open.

As for Jennifer Brady, she suffered a complex injury to her left foot in August 2021, which kept her away from the courts until now. The North American was a finalist in the Australian Open that same year (losing to Naomi Osaka) and reached world No. 13 in the rankings, but the injury forced her to take a break from competition.

The good news for Brady is that she returned to the courts this week at the ITF Canada 03A, where she secured victory in her first match against the Japanese player Kyoka Okamura.

In the US Open, Jennifer Brady will be able to utilize her protected ranking and enter the tournament as the 14th seed, just behind Russian player Veronika Kudermetova.

At 28 years old, Brady is currently without a ranking and will face the sixth seed, Himeno Sakatsume, in the second round of the ITF tournament, aiming to secure another victory in her return to professional competition.