Gael Monfils, who is ranked 20th in the world on the ATP Tour, has accepted a wild-card entry into the Winston-Salem Open tennis tournament.
Tournament director Jeff Ryan has two more wild cards available for the main draw after inviting Dominic Thiem and now Monfils, who has missed several tournaments with a foot injury but returned to competition this week.
The tournament is scheduled for Aug. 20-27 at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.
Monfils, 35, a native of Paris, was a finalist in Winston-Salem in 2013. After losing to No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic in the round of 32 at the Madrid Open in May, Monfils underwent treatment for a calcaneal spur on his right heel that “prevents me from moving properly on the court,” he wrote on Twitter at the time.
Monfils, 14-6 this season with a tournament title in an Australian Open tuneup, is playing this week at the National Bank Open in Montreal. He defeated Pedro Martinez and Maxime Cressy in his first two matches and faces Jack Draper on Thursday night in the round of 16.
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Monfils also announced in May that he and his wife, WTA star Elina Svitolina, were expecting their first child, a girl, in October. Svitolina is ranked No. 44 in the world and has been ranked as high as No. 3.
Monfils has more than 500 match wins, 11 titles and a rankings career-best of No. 6.
Tickets and information: winstonsalemopen.com