August marks the return of the highest level of tennis to the U.S., as the North American hard-court swing begins, culminating with the US Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., beginning on Aug. 27.

The lead-up to the US Open, known as the US Open Series, kicked off for the men in Atlanta in late July and for the women in San Jose, Calif., the first week of August.

Stops include Cincinnati, Winston-Salem, N.C., New Haven, Conn., as well as Montreal and Toronto, before the top players in the world head to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York for the year’s final Grand Slam.

A number of the players who will be competing in the US Open Series later this summer live in Orlando and train at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona. Those with high enough rankings will be directly accepted into the US Open main draw, while the next tier of players will be given the opportunity to qualify.

Leading the way for the Orlando contingent is Madison Keys, who is ranked No. 12 in the world following Wimbledon. Keys, who reached her first career Grand Slam final at the 2017 US Open, has had an impressive 2018 campaign, which has included a quarterfinal performance at the Australian Open and a career-best semifinal finish at the French Open.

In addition to Keys, a number of other Top 200-ranked women from Orlando will be in action this summer, including Jennifer Brady (No. 70), Caroline Dolehide (No. 102), Irina Falconi (No. 140), Kristie Ahn (No. 152) and Grace Min (No. 169).

Brady has reached the semifinals of three USTA and ITF Pro Circuit tournaments this season. Last year, she burst onto the scene, reaching the fourth round of the US Open in her main-draw debut, which vaulted her to a career-high ranking of No. 60 late in the 2017 season.

Nineteen-year-old Caroline Dolehide has had a career year and is primed to break into the Top 100 for the first time in her professional career. Among her results, she reached the third round at Indian Wells and qualified for the French Open, where she notched her first Grand Slam win before falling in the second round.

Falconi, Ahn and Min have all played Grand Slam main draws this year and hope to find themselves among the 128 women competing in New York.

On the men’s side, Frances Tiafoe will make his return to the US Open after taking 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer to five sets in the first round of last year’s tournament. This season, the 20-year-old has reached a number of milestones, including his current career-best ranking of No. 45 and his first ATP title in Delray Beach. He reached the final of the ATP event in Estoril, Portugal, the quarterfinals of the pre-Wimbledon ATP 500 event in London, the fourth round of the Miami Open and the third round of Wimbledon, his best performance at a Grand Slam tournament to date.

He’ll be joined by USTA National Campus newcomer Mackenzie McDonald, who vaulted into the Top 100 after his fourth-round run at Wimbledon in only his third Grand Slam appearance to date. The California native, who swept the 2016 NCAA singles and doubles titles, reached the second round of the Australian Open after qualifying for the main draw and has one ATP Challenger Tour title this year in two finals appearances. He is ranked a career-best No. 80 following Wimbledon.

At No. 133, Bjorn Fratangelo rounds out the crop of Top 200 men who train in Orlando and will be vying for a spot in the US Open main draw.

Also, a number of top-ranked juniors who make up the next generation of American tennis players have spent time training in Lake Nona and will be competing in the US Open Junior Championships. Coco Gauff and Whitney Osuigwe are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the world, respectively, and are both resident Floridians who have spent time at the USTA National Campus training with the USTA Player Development staff.

On the boys side, Sebastian Korda is ranked No. 3 in the world and has also spent time training in Lake Nona.

The US Open begins on Monday, Aug. 27, and concludes Sunday, Sept. 9. The qualifying tournament will be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center the preceding week.