Grand Slam winners to play in new Charleston tennis event

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) Australian Open champions Victoria Azarenka and Sofia Kenin and U.S. Open winners Sloane Stephens and Bianca Andreescu will take part in the Credit One Bank Invitational team tennis event in Charleston next month.

Tournament organizers announced the 16-player event on Wednesday. It will be played from June 23-28 at the Daniel Island site where the WTA's Volvo Car Open is typically held each spring. That clay-court event, set for this past April, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The tournament will be played without fans. Players will be tested before arriving at the tournament, then again at the site. There will be daily temperature tests and health screenings.

To minimize the amount of people in attendance, there will just one official and one ball person. Players will call their own lines.

Azarenka of Belarus won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013 and was ranked No. 1 in the world. Kenin, of the United States, won the Australian Open in February in the last Grand Slam championship before coronavirus shut down pro tennis.

Stephens won her country's home title in 2017 while Andreescu of Canada took the crown last September.

Also entered is Madison Keys, an American who won the Volvo Car Open at the site in 2019.