Former grand slam champions Stan Wawrinka and Victoria Azarenka have been awarded wild cards into this year’s US Open.

Wawrinka, who won his third slam title at Flushing Meadows two years ago, has found life difficult since coming back from knee surgery in January and missed out on automatic entry with his ranking down at 151.

Azarenka returned to the tour last summer after having her first child but a custody battle with the father of her toddler son Leo left her unable to take him outside America and she did not play a tournament between Wimbledon last year and Indian Wells in March.

The Belarusian, twice an Australian Open champion, has been unable to reach her previous heights and was also ranked outside the cut-off for the year’s final grand slam, although she has since climbed back inside the top 100.

Russian veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova, the champion in New York 14 years ago, has also been given a wild card.