2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur has pulled out of this year’s edition of the tournament due to the same injury that also saw her withdraw from Wimbledon.
Stosur, who beat Serena Williams to take her sole Grand Slam singles title at Flushing Meadows six years ago, suffered a stress fracture on her right hand at the French Open back in June and despite it previously seeming that she would be fit enough to return to the tour next week in New Haven, the Australian has been forced to extend her absence from the tour to make a complete recovery.
The Australian lost in the second round in New York last year, beating Camila Giorgi in three-sets before falling to Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-3 despite being the 16th seed. Her withdrawal means that Annika Beck, who was set to be the top seed in qualifying, will now be making her fifth main draw appearance at the US Open; she too reached the second round last year, falling to Elena Vesnina.
Injury trouble continues for former champion
Stosur would have undoubtedly been hoping to return in time to play at the tournament which she arguably achieved the highlight of her career, though her hand has not recovered in time and means she will now miss two Grand Slam tournaments in a row for the first time since 2002.
The Australian picked up the stress fracture during her third round win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the French Open and eventually lost her fourth round match to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko two days afterward. Stosur pulled out of the whole of the grass court season, including Wimbledon, shortly afterward though it was originally thought she could be back for the North American hard court season. However, it is now hard to tell at what stage of the season the former world number four will return to WTA action.
The Australian was set to be unseeded for the main draw, meaning that her withdrawal will have no implication on the eventual seedings. The seedings for the last Grand Slam of the season will be determined by the final results at the Western and Southern Open this week.