Tennis-Former champion Hewitt gets U.S. Open wildcard entry

Aug 18 (Reuters) - Former champion Lleyton Hewitt will enjoy a New York farewell after receiving a wildcard entry into the U.S. Open, it was announced on Tuesday. Hewitt, the 2001 champion who plans to retire in January, was among 16 players who received wildcard entries into the main draw from the U.S. Tennis Association. In addition, cancer survivor Vicky Duval benefited from a wild card entry into the qualifying tournament. Australian veteran Hewitt, who beat Pete Sampras to win the 2001 U.S. Open, received his wild card via a reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia, which will grant an American a wild card into next year's Australian Open. Hewitt, 34, has slipped to 162 in the rankings and is set to make his 15th appearance in the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows, where he was runner-up to Roger Federer in 2004. He says he "most likely" will retire after the Australian Open in January. The other U.S. Open men's wild cards went to Americans Ryan Harrison, 18-year-old Jared Donaldson, 2011 French Open boys' champion Bjorn Fratangelo, Austin Krajicek, Ryan Shane and Frances Tiafoe, plus Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France. American teenager Duval, who pulled off a huge upset in the first round of the 2013 U.S. Open when she beat 2011 champion Samantha Stosur, was among eight players who received a wild card entry for the women's Aug 25-28 qualifying tournament. Duval, 19, returned to competition only last week in Pennsylvania following a year-long recovery from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a former world number 30 who is currently ranked 99th, and Oceane Dodin of France were among the eight players who received wild card entries into the main women's draw at Flushing Meadows. The other six players were Americans Louisa Chirico, 2012 US Open girls' singles champion Samantha Crawford, Nicole Gibbs, Sofia Kenin, Jamie Loeb and Sachia Vickery. The U.S. Open will be played from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Andrew Both)