The entry lists of the US Open men’s and women’s singles campaign have been released – and a surprise name is set to headline action.

In a largely unexpected move, four-time champion and former world No 1 Rafael Nadal is set to compete at Flushing Meadows at the end of August.

The US Open is Nadal’s second-most successful major with four titles to his name, but he has been an infrequent visitor to the event in recent seasons.

Since winning his fourth title in 2019 he has only played the event once, losing in round four to Frances Tiafoe in 2022.

And, amid his injury struggles and potential farewell from the sport, playing at the tournament again looked unlikely just a few months ago.

Nadal received an emotional on-court ceremony at the Madrid Open in May and looked a shadow of himself in a chastening defeat to Hubert Hurkacz at the Italian Open.

However, he has openly spoken about physical improvements since then, and did not look too out of shape in his opening-round loss to Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros.

The decision to enter the field for the fourth and final major of 2024 – via a protected ranking – will fuel hopes that Nadal’s retirement is not imminent and that he may be able to bow out on his own terms.

It will now be interesting to see how he schedules his summer, with a few events already in the pipeline for the 22-time Grand Slam champion.

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The 38-year-old is currently competing at the Swedish Open in Bastad, where he won his opening doubles match alongside Casper Ruud before beating Leo Borg in the singles on Tuesday – with Cameron Norrie up next.

Nadal is then set to stay on the clay for the Olympic Games in Paris, where he is set for a final Olympics campaign on the Roland Garros site.

The Spaniard is entered into singles action, but will also play doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz in a pairing likely to attract huge attention.

Nadal is now set to be in the US Open draw and also previously entered into the Laver Cup for Team Europe, which takes place in late September.

However, it will be interesting to see if and when he enters any other events.

He will likely want at least one warm-up event on hard courts before New York, with the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati a potential option for him.

Outside of Nadal, there were no real surprises in the entry lists for the US Open.

The men’s event is set to be led by Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz, while Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff spearhead the women’s field.

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