By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Former champion Marin Cilic and 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud pulled out of the U.S. Open due to injuries shortly after the tournament got underway on Sunday.
Cilic won the only major title of his career at Flushing Meadows 12 years ago and the Croat will be replaced in the draw by lucky loser Otto Virtanen, who faces 23rd seed Andrey Rublev in the opening round.
Virtanen had pulled out of his third round qualifying match against Grigor Dimitrov with injury.
Organisers did not specify what the injury to the 37-year-old Cilic was. The veteran joins a growing list of withdrawals with the likes of Jannik Sinner, Jack Draper, Joao Fonseca and Holger Rune skipping the tournament this year.
Ruud, the runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz four years ago, was another high-profile player to pull out earlier and his place in the opening round will be taken by lucky loser Arthur Gea. The Frenchman meets Juan Manuel Cerundolo first up.
The 27-year-old Ruud had retired during the second set of his Cincinnati Open meeting with Christopher O’Connell earlier this month and said his back injury had not recovered in time.
“Unfortunately, my back hasn’t healed as quickly as we had hoped,” Ruud said on Instagram.
“We’ve been optimistic that I would recover in time, but my team and I have decided that we need to think long term and give my body the time it needs. I’m very sad to announce that I have to withdraw from this year’s U.S. Open singles event.
“It’s never easy to miss a Grand Slam, but I know this is the right decision. I’ll take the time I need to recover properly and come back stronger.”
Ruud competed in the revamped mixed doubles tournament last week partnering Diana Shnaider and the pair were beaten in the quarter-finals by Rublev and Mirra Andreeva.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
