Hewitt, Blake to receive wild cards into US Open

[August 15, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Lleyton Hewitt and James Blake will receive wild cards into the U.S. Open.

The U.S. Tennis Association announced its eight men's wild cards Tuesday. Hewitt is a two-time major champion, winning the 2001 U.S. Open, but at age 31 the Australian has fallen to 134th in the world. Blake has twice reached the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows, but the 32-year-old American's ranking was also too low to automatically qualify for the year's last Grand Slam, which starts Aug. 27.

Other Americans receiving wild cards were NCAA singles champion Steve Johnson; USTA boys' 18s singles champion Dennis Novikov; 2010 U.S. Open boys' singles finalists Jack Sock and Denis Kudla; and Rajeev Ram, currently ranked No. 100. France's Guillaume Rufin also got a wild card.

Hewitt and Rufin were invited through reciprocal arrangements with the Australian and French Opens.

[Associated Press]

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