When Victoria Mboko and Hailey Baptiste made it to the US Open main-draw last year, they quickly emerged as two of the breakout stars of Flushing Meadows. But neither could have imagined that just 12 months later, both would be forced to miss the year’s final major.

Baptiste suffered an ACL injury during the French Open, while Mboko’s setback came at Queen’s Club in June. Now, both rising stars have officially confirmed that they will miss this year’s US Open as they continue their recoveries.

The Canadian first slipped and injured the MCL in her left knee during a fourth-round retirement against Karolina Pliskova at Queen’s Club last month. The injury came just a day after Mboko had partnered with Serena Williams to the tennis legend’s first doubles victory since returning to the tour. The setback forced the Canadian to withdraw from Wimbledon and later pull out of her home WTA 1000 event, the Canadian Open, where she had emerged as one of the country’s biggest breakout stars last year.

Speaking about that withdrawal, Mboko couldn’t hide her disappointment. “Knowing that I won’t be able to play this year, it’s very saddening,” she said. “But I feel like I have so many more years ahead of me to play this tournament.” 

The setback comes at a crucial point in what had been a rapid rise for the 19-year-old. Victoria Mboko earned a wildcard at the 2025 Canadian Open and had one of the best breakthrough runs of the last few years. The 19-year-old defeated four Grand Slam champions, Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Naomi Osaka to win the title outright.

She had surged up the rankings by the end of February this year, reaching the top 10 of the world. Injury slowed her down in London, but till then she had already reached three finals in 2026, including Strasbourg, Qatar and Adelaide.

However, her season had already suffered an early setback. An ill-timed wisdom tooth extraction after the Miami Open delayed the start of her clay-court campaign, forcing her to wait until the Madrid Open in April to make her return.

Now, with a knee injury ending her summer prematurely, external setbacks have disrupted the momentum of one of the tour’s most promising young players for the second time this season.

The situation is far more dire for Hailey Baptiste. The American pro tore her ACL and damaged her meniscus during a second-round match against Wang Xiyu at Roland Garros in May, landing awkwardly while defending near the baseline. She immediately collapsed in visible agony, unable to put any weight on her leg. 

She was wheeled off the court to a standing ovation from the Paris crowd after retiring while trailing 5-4 in the first set. The situation was complicated further when her father, Qasim, was called off the court when he rushed on in distress. Baptiste later underwent successful surgery and gave fans an update from her hospital bed. “It was scary, but I did it,” she wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to everyone at HSS for making this such a smooth and comfortable process.”

Doctors stated that the recovery period would likely take at least six months, meaning that her season was over the moment she fell. The update makes it clear that even the Australian Open swing at the start of next year may come too soon for a full return. Looking back on the emotional rollercoaster that followed, Baptiste captured just how abruptly her breakthrough year had ended. 

“The most heartbreaking end to the best season of my life,” she penned. “Still waiting to wake up from this nightmare. In my head, all I can think is why, why, and why. Why me? Why now? And why like this?”

The injury came in the middle of her best run of form on tour, having made her first WTA 1000 quarter-final in Miami and then dispatching world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on the way to the semi-final in Madrid. These results lifted her to a career-high ranking of world No. 25. She also received support from her fellow compatriots, Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, following the injury. 

Former player and coach Rennae Stubbs spoke out against a series of insensitive posts online that tried to connect the injury to Baptiste’s body weight. She described the posts as “stupid” and emphasized how prevalent ACL tears are in women’s sports, regardless of body type. 

Both absences create a real void in the US Open field, leaving two players who are more than capable of making deep runs in big tournaments and producing upsets. They will need to wait until next season to be at full strength, which will be key to them stamping their authority again.

WTA stars who made it to the US Open Entry List

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka headlines this year’s US Open entry list and is one of five former champions in the main draw alongside Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka, and Emma Raducanu.

Joining them are five other Grand Slam champions still chasing their first US Open title: Elena Rybakina (Australian Open 2026), Mirra Andreeva (French Open 2026), Linda Noskova (Wimbledon 2026), Barbora Krejcikova (Roland Garros 2021, Wimbledon 2024), and Jelena Ostapenko (Roland Garros 2017).

The field also features five former US Open runners-up hoping to go one step further: Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys, Leylah Fernandez, and Karolina Pliskova. They are joined by three more Grand Slam finalists: Karolina Muchova, Jasmine Paolini, and Maja Chwalinska.

Four additional direct entrants have previously reached the US Open semifinals: Elina Svitolina, Belinda Bencic, Emma Navarro, and Maria Sakkari. Rounding out the top entrants are Marta Kostyuk, Iva Jovic, Sorana Cirstea, Diana Shnaider, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Anna Kalinskaya.

Yet, despite the star power across the draw, the tournament will be missing two of last year’s breakout stories. With Victoria Mboko and Hailey Baptiste sidelined through injury, Flushing Meadows loses two rising stars who had captured plenty of attention during last year’s event and looked poised to build on that momentum in 2026.