The 2026 US Open is edging closer, but the season’s last Grand Slam has already lost two more notable entrants as the withdrawal list continues to grow.

Main-draw singles play at the 146th edition of the event begins on Sunday 30 August and runs through Sunday 13 September, when the men’s final is scheduled to close the tournament. The hard-court major is held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending men’s and women’s champions.

At present, seven players have withdrawn across the men’s and women’s main-draw singles entry lists.

Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion who famously lifted the title as an 18-year-old qualifier ranked 150th, will not play this year because of a stress fracture in her right leg. The issue has kept the 23-year-old Brit out of action since her Queen’s Club Championships final defeat in June. She had already withdrawn from Toronto and Cincinnati, and she has not yet commented on pulling out of the US Open.

Sebastian Korda also confirmed his absence after revealing last week that he had undergone back surgery. His withdrawal was confirmed on Monday.

“It’s been four months off-court managing pain in my back with a lot of pressure on my sciatica,” Korda wrote in an Instagram post.

“After different treatments we decided to have a swift surgery that has finally relieved the pain. What a relief.

“Now it is time to recover, heal and get back to work. Thanks everyone for the support. See ya’ll soon!”

The 26-year-old American has not competed since his four-set loss to Martin Landaluce at the Miami Open in March, a match that came after he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round.

Raducanu is now the sixth woman on the withdrawal list, while Korda remains the only man to pull out so far.

Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski believes Emma Raducanu has every reason to be worn down by the repeated setbacks that have disrupted her 2026 season.

Raducanu has been out since suffering a stress fracture in her right leg after her defeat to Donna Vekic in the Queen’s Club Championships final in June. That injury forced her to pull out of Wimbledon on the eve of the event, and she then withdrew early from the WTA 1000 tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati. It has now also been confirmed that she will miss the 2026 US Open, which begins on Sunday 30 August.

The 2021 US Open winner is currently ranked 49th and has managed only 21 matches this season, with her record standing at 11-10.

On his Off Court With Greg Rusedski podcast, the former world No 4 spoke at length about the difficulties Raducanu faces when trying to build momentum.

“I remember Andy Roddick questioning when she said this year, ‘I wanna play less. I don’t want to play more’. And Roddick’s like… you’ve gotta play more. And this is from a former world No 1 who sees the game exceptionally well,” said the 1997 US Open finalist.

“I kind of agree with him. You’ve gotta be able to sustain and play and build and have that continuity. It’s been stop, start, stop, start. No matter how great a champion you are, it’s very difficult.

“Emma is still so, so young. So you’re like, okay, there should be at least another five years till you’re 30. So I think if she can solve that problem and find a way, who knows, but you’ve got to have that insatiable desire to want to.

“Jane O’Donoghue, who is a great coach and helps run everything in there, so there are good people involved. They will be all trying to find a solution. Let’s do this, that, and the other.

“If you’re an athlete, your health is your wealth. If you can’t stay healthy long enough, no matter how great a player you are, you just won’t have the results or career you want to have.”

A major endorsement has followed Alex Eala’s Washington Open triumph, with veteran coach Rick Macci praising the Filipina’s game and suggesting she has the tools to rise to the top of the rankings.

Eala produced a remarkable comeback to defeat world No. 3 Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the final and claim the first WTA Tour title of her career. The match began on Sunday but was halted by rain with Pegula ahead 6-4, 1-2. When play resumed on Monday, Eala took control and won 10 of the last 13 games.

The deciding set was especially dominant. Eala dropped only eight points across the 32 played as she powered through the finish.

Macci, who worked with Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick, posted his assessment on X/Twitter after the title run. He pointed to several features of Eala’s style while also making a strong prediction about her future.

“What I love about the PHILIPPINE MACHINE is she hits clean,” Macci wrote.

“Very good balance to earn more allowance. But because she takes it on the rise and creates brutal angles with disguise and plays the game with her eyes.

“But she is not afraid to pull the trigger and go bigger under the gun and that is another reason she could someday be number one.”

Eala’s route to the title also included wins over Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina, Leylah Fernandez and Zheng Qinwen.

After the final, the world No. 20 explained how the run could shape her development.

“I think to have this many matches at this very high level, having these high calibre players, it helps me obviously just gain experience and more core time at that level.

“And I think inevitably propelling my progression and the level of my game, because if you spend time at that kind of zone, the more time you spend, I believe the better you get and the more consistent you get. So it’s it’s all these matches and all these hours are just experience in the bag.”