Joao Fonseca has joined the growing list of withdrawals at this year’s US Open after suffering an abdominal injury that first emerged at last week’s Cincinnati Open. The 20-year-old Brazilian confirmed the news, admitting how difficult making the call was.
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“After undergoing tests and starting treatment for my abdomen, it became clear to me and my team that I need more time to fully recover so I can compete at a high level,” wrote Fonseca in an emotional post on Instagram. “Unfortunately, this means I won’t be able to play in the US Open. It was not an easy decision to make, as it is a very special tournament for me. We’ll keep working hard so I can come back as soon as possible.”
After a straight-sets victory over Botic Van de Zandschulp in the second round in Cincinnati, Fonseca sustained an injury during a practice session, forcing him to withdraw from his third-round match against Christopher O’Connell. He complained of a sharp pain on the left side of his abdomen, and he pulled out of the tournament and returned to Brazil for treatment.
He was still unsure through to this week, even sitting out an exhibition match with Learner Tien on Thursday after being replaced by Flavio Cobolli, and finally decided to not take the risk of playing the tournament itself.
The withdrawal broke his streak of playing every Grand Slam since his debut at last year’s Australian Open. His US Open debut saw him reach the second round, losing to Tomas Machac in straight sets. The Brazilian has even won the boys’ US Open championship back in 2023, becoming only the third Brazilian to do so after Tiago Fernandes and Thiago Seyboth Wild.
The 20-year-old has had a decent season till now, collecting 19 wins across 32 matches. He even reached his best Grand Slam appearance at this year’s French Open, where he defeated Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud en route to the quarterfinals.
The reason for playing just 32 matches is not just related to early-round exits but also to the injuries he has been suffering this season. Before coming to the Australian Open, he completely missed the warm-up tournaments leading up to the first Slam of the year and even played at Melbourne Park through lower back issues. Further into the season, he missed the Hamburg Open and Eastbourne Open due to minor injuries like a wrist problem and a shoulder injury, respectively. Now an abdominal injury has kept him out of the last slam of the year.
Injury list grows at this year’s US Open
The departure of Fonseca is part of what’s become one of the most injury-plagued build-ups to the US Open. On the men’s end, Sebastian Korda, Emilio Nava, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Ethan Quinn and Gabriel Diallo have all dropped out. While the biggest name is world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who withdrew with a knee injury following his Wimbledon title.
Jack Draper and Holger Rune are also missing, and with Fonseca, over a dozen men will not feature in the men’s singles draw who otherwise would. The women’s side has also felt the impact, with 2021 champion Emma Raducanu having been ruled out with a stress fracture and Irina-Camelia Begu also having dropped out. Two of the WTA’s breakout stars, Victoria Mboko and Hailey Baptiste, have been sidelined by long-term knee injuries suffered earlier in the season.
The disturbance has spread to the mixed doubles event as well. Draper was set to play with Pegula but pulled out, and Medvedev and Shnaider were removed from the competition because Medvedev accepted a last-minute wildcard for Winston-Salem, while Osaka also withdrew her partnership with Nishikori due to scheduling conflicts. More recently, Frances Tiafoe and Iga Swiatek have also pulled out of the event as they both reached the finals of Cincinnati and are giving their bodies time to recover for the singles draw.
Amid all of this, the biggest news of return is that the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz in coming back to Arthur Ashe, not just in the singles draw but even in the mixed doubles event with none other than 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.