The 2021 US Open kicked off with full fervor on Monday. After a long time, crowds returned to New York for the final Grand Slam of the calendar. As the tournament kicked off, fans received some disappointing news. Last year’s semifinalist and American fan favorite Jennifer Brady pulled out of the US Open 2021. Along with her, Jelena Ostapenko also made a late withdrawal.

Jennifer Brady makes late withdrawal citing knee injury

Just as the US Open got under way, American Jennifer Brady decided to exclude herself from the major. Having reached the semifinal last year, the 13th seed will now lose a significant chunk of points. She was slated to come up against youngster Emma Raducanu, who created a storm at Wimbledon. However, a long-standing knee injury has forced Brady out of the 2021 Flushing Meadows.

This means that Raducanu will come up against Stefanie Voegele in Round-1. It will be a huge respite for the 18-year-old, who had an extremely challenging first match. For Brady, it is a sad ending to her campaign this year. The World No.14 will have wanted to improve on her outing last year, but unfortunately cannot.

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Jelena Ostapenko follows Brady out of US Open 2021

Along with the American hot-favorite, former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko also withdrew from the Open. Though her reason is not known, reports claim that she had some internal medical issues. Ostapenko was seeded 27th, and was due to face Nadia Podoroska of Argentina.

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The late withdrawal will not cost Ostapenko all that badly, as she missed the tournament last year as well. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Latvian had pulled out of the US Open competition in 2020 too. She will be replaced by Greet Minnen, another lucky loser. Minnen will be up against Podoroska in an unseeded clash.

It is a disheartening end to the season, particularly for Jennifer Brady who even made her maiden Grand Slam final earlier this year. We can only hope and pray that she makes a stronger comeback in 2022!