Murray the latest to withdraw from US Open due to injury

Missing from the women’s side is six-time champion Serena Williams, who would have been favoured but remains out the rest of the year due to pregnancy, and Victoria Azarenka due to a family situation.

Cilic inherited the draw spot belonging to Britain’s Andy Murray when the second seed withdrew Saturday due to a left hip injury, meaning a new path to the final and a switch in first-match foe from Frenchman Gilles Simon on short notice.

Czech world number one Karolina Pliskova, runner-up at last year’s tournament, will play her first round against Poland’s Magda Linette and is projected to play 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last eight.

While wrist injuries and consequent rehab have taken out Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka is out of the season with a knee injury. “Then I think my tennis is going to get better”.

“If he wins this, it will be one of the greatest stories in the past 50 years – or ever”. She has had a good lead in to the US Open with a win in Stanford and a third set tie break defeat to Muguruza in Cincinnati. “I see all of them being unsafe”, McEnroe said. “We never played in NY so I think that would be fun for everybody involved”.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are in the other half while Cilic’s potential semi-final opponent Alexander Zverev is yet to make his grand slam breakthrough.

The two veteran stars put on a show in a superb five-set Australian Open final won by Federer earlier this year. “Now they will feature future champions”.

Opening proceedings on the main court on a mild day in NY will be third seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain, against local favorite Varvara Lepchenko.

Their most obvious rivals in the top half of the draw are Austria’s Dominic Thiem and the mercurial Nick Krygios of Australia.

Those seven players own a combined 82 major singles titles. Federer, for one, has a grim draw.

“It’s mostly because they are 30-plus”.

It is usually October that sees an earnest debate within the sport about the physical toll the circuit takes, but this year it has been brought forward two months.

“Not always playing be at 85, 90, 95 per cent”. So that just pushed me back a bit.

“Was actually practicing OK the last few days”, he added, “but it’s too sore for me to win the tournament”.

Knowing that he could play later this year is not the same as knowing whether or not he should, a question made harder for Murray be positive signs during his workouts for the US Open.

Roger Federer has played Rafael Nadal at every Grand Slam event except the US Open and both tennis legends predicted a great night should they meet in this year’s semi-finals.

Along with the possible continuation of a newly re-ignited rivalry, a significant development that has played out in Flushing Meadows this year has been that of the top-10 players in the ATP ranking, five have been forced to sit out the tournament with injuries.