US Open rocked by big-name withdrawals on eve of last major
Milos Raonic and Kevin Anderson have both withdrawn from the US Open on the eve of the final grand slam of the year.
Raonic, the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up, will miss the event because of an injured glute muscle.
The Canadian was set to be seeded 21st.
The US Tennis Association announced Raonic's withdrawal on Sunday and said he will be replaced in the field by Kamil Majchrzak of Poland, who lost in qualifying.
Meanwhile, two-time grand slam finalist Anderson has also withdraw with an injured right knee.
The 33-year-old South African was the runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Flushing Meadows in 2017 and to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year.
He will be replaced in the main draw by Paolo Lorenzi of Italy.
Anderson hasn’t played in a tournament since losing in the third round of Wimbledon in July.
He had been seeded No. 16 for the US Open and could have faced defending champion Djokovic in the fourth round.
No Anderson for Djokovic
No Raonic for Nishikori. https://t.co/o91kTF209U— Frans (@FransKaiser) August 25, 2019
Aussie battler earns call-up
Priscilla Hon will make an unexpected US Open debut on Monday after receiving a shock 11th-hour entry into the women's main draw.
Hon was about to check out of her New York hotel before learning she'd earned a call-up as a lucky loser from qualifying.
The 21-year-old lost her final-round qualifying match to Czech Denisa Allertova but a glut of late withdrawals helped Hon claim a spot.
"I was really disappointed that I lost. I didn't play the worst match," Hon said.
"After I lost I showered and did whatever I had to do and went home and then I sat down with my coach, we talked about the match, then we started talking about what I'm playing next - what flights we should take and all that.
"I went back to my room and I was literally about to book flights and call Qantas and change everything.
"Then a girl, one of the players, messaged me saying that she's helping with the draw and that she chose me as a lucky loser.
"I'm like 'wait, are you sure? Are you sure I'm lucky loser?'
"I got my agent to call the referee just to double check. So she told me and I only knew 20 minutes later officially, I guess."
with agencies
