Raonic out of US Open with wrist injury
Zhang Shuai of China returns a shot to Magda Linette of Poland during their Connecticut Open second-round match at Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, on August 23, 2017. Zhang won 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
Canadian Milos Raonic has withdrawn from the US Open with a left wrist injury, the world No. 11 announced on Instagram on Wednesday.
Raonic, 26, said in the post he had a procedure on Wednesday to remove "portions of bone" that had been causing him discomfort for weeks.
"I have too much respect for the US Open and my fellow competitors to take a spot in the draw when I know I cannot give full effort due to this injury," Raonic wrote on the social media site. "I am crushed to miss this event and a chance to play in front of the fantastic New York crowd, but I truly had no other options."
The US Open, final Grand Slam of the season, starts on Monday at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Raonic is just the latest forced out of the tournament, which features a men's field headed by Spain's Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer of Switzerland but missing injured Novak Djokovic (elbow) of Serbia, Swiss reigning champion Stan Wawrinka (knee) and former finalist Kei Nishikori of Japan.
The Canadian reached the quarterfinals of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, but has been hampered all season by injury.
After losing his opening match at the Rogers Cup to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the second round in Montreal, he pulled out of last week's Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
In his message to his fans, Raonic said he was already back in the gym, beginning rehabilitation.
"I look forward to rejoining the tour healthier and stronger and finishing the 2017 year in proper form," he said.
Also sitting out the action at Flushing Meadows are 23-time major champion Serena Williams, who is pregnant, and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, who is dealing with a custody case involving her baby son.
In New Haven, Connecticut, second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia rallied to beat Alize Cornet of France 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday night to reach the Connecticut Open quarterfinals.
Cibulkova will face sixth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia next in the US Open tuneup event at The Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. Pavlyuchenkova beat Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6 (3), 6-0.
Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens set up a quarterfinal against Australia's Daria Gavrilova, beating Romania's Ana Bogdan 6-1, 7-6 (1). Gavrilova advanced on Tuesday.
China's Zhang Shuai beat Poland's Magda Linette 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 and will face Belgium's Elise Mertens, a winner on Tuesday.
In the other quarterfinal, top-seeded defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland will play eighth-seeded Peng Shuai of China. They also advanced on Tuesday.
