The coveted main draw wildcards aka “free passes” into the men’s and women’s singles draws at the 2012 U.S. Open tennis tournament have been given to eight lucky women and eight lucky men.

Men:
James Blake – Former top five player and U.S. Open quarterfinalist, now 32 and on the comeback from injuries.
Steve Johnson – NCAA Singles Champion from USC in 2011 and 2012 and led the Trojans to four straight team titles.  Steve, 22, earned his wildcard based on his strong play on the USTA circuit this summer.
Jack Sock – 2010 U.S. Open Junior Boys’ Champion. Sock, 19, won the 2011 U.S. Open Mixed Doubles title with Melanie Oudin.
Denis Kudla – 2010 U.S. Open Junior Boys’ finalist, Denis, 20, reached a career-high ranking of 160 in August.
Dennis Novikov – 2012 USTA Boys’ 18s Singles Champion and member of the UCLA tennis team
Rajeev Ram – American ranked 100th in the world. Rajeev, now 28, has won six Tour doubles titles and reached two semis on the 2012 Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series.
Guillaume Rufin – Reciprocal wildcard with The French Tennis Federation, which gives an American player a wildcard into Roland Garros.
Lleyton Hewitt – Reciprocal wildcard with Tennis Australia which gives an American player a wildcard into the Australian Open.  Hewitt, now 31 and on the comeback from injuries, is the 2001 U.S. Open champion.

Women:
Melanie Oudin – Reached the quarters at the 2009 U.S. Open
Bethanie Mattek-Sands – Veteran and past member of the Federation Cup team
Nicole Gibbs – 2012 NCAA Singles and Doubles Champion from Stanford University
Mallory Burdette – 2012 NCAA Singles finalist and Doubles Champion from Stanford University
Victoria Duval – Won the USTA Girls’ 18s title at the age of 16
Julia Cohen – American, who is 23 and earned the wildcard based on strong recent results
Kristina Mladenovic - Reciprocal wildcard with The French Tennis Federation, which gives an American player a wildcard into Roland Garros.
Casey Dellacqua – Reciprocal wildcard with Tennis Australia which gives an American player a wildcard into the Australian Open.