The 50th anniversary of the US Open will contain a plethora of superstars as six former US Open champions are entered to contest the year's final Grand Slam event at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

Six-time US Open champion Serena Williams, four-time US Open titlist Venus Williams, defending champion Sloane Stephens, 2016 winner (and recent Wimbledon champion) Angelique Kerber, 2011 champion Samantha Stosur, and 2006 victor Maria Sharapova are all found in the direct entry list for the 2018 event, which commences main draw play on Monday, August 27.

World No.1 and reigning French Open champion Simona Halep heads the entry list, and finds herself included alongside other major-winning entrants like World No.2 and reigning Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, two-time Grand Slam winners Petra Kvitova and Garbiñe Muguruza, and last year's French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Along with the current Top 4 of Halep, Wozniacki, Stephens, and Kerber, World No.5 Elina Svitolina and World No.6 Caroline Garcia are found near the top of the list. Rounding out the Top 10 entries are No.7 Muguruza, No.8 Kvitova, No.9 Karolina Pliskova (2016 US Open finalist), and No.10 Julia Goerges.

100 of the top 101 women received direct entry into the US Open, representing 32 countries. The United States has 14 women who qualified for direct entry into the US Open’s main draw -- the most of any country.

World No.101 Anna Blinkova of Russia is the last player accepted directly into the women’s field of 128. Four players are using a special ranking to gain entry into the main draw: Timea Bacsinszky, Laura Siegemund, Margarita Gasparyan, and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

Sixteen more players will gain entry through the US Open Qualifying Tournament, which takes place on-site at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. from August 21-24. The remaining eight spots will be filled with wild cards awarded by the USTA.