Grigor Dimitrov has withdrawn from the US Open after suffering a torn chest muscle at Wimbledon. The 34-year-old Bulgarian, a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist, was forced to quit his July 7 match against Jannik Sinner after taking the opening two sets and sustaining the injury in the third.

The withdrawal continues an unbroken sequence of incomplete Grand Slam appearances for Dimitrov. The Wimbledon exit marked the fifth consecutive Grand Slam in which he did not finish a match. That sequence includes the Australian Open in January and the French Open in May of this season, as well as last year’s Wimbledon and US Open.

A year ago at Flushing Meadows, Dimitrov stopped while trailing 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 4-1 against Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals. His best Grand Slam results remain semifinals at the US Open in 2019, the Australian Open in 2017, and Wimbledon in 2014.

Dimitrov reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 and is currently ranked No. 21. Organizers confirmed that Alejandro Tabilo will move into the men’s singles draw in Dimitrov’s place. The US Open men’s singles bracket begins play on Aug. 24.

The withdrawal reduces the field and hands a late opportunity to Tabilo, while marking a notable and unfortunate run of interrupted major campaigns for one of the tour’s long-standing performers.

Emma Raducanu has named Francisco Roig as her new head coach, a move that will see the Spaniard lead her team through the end of the 2025 season. The appointment, confirmed ahead of the Cincinnati Open after an initial period of work following Raducanu’s Wimbledon exit, replaces a patchwork coaching setup that followed Nick Cavaday’s departure. Cavaday stepped down after this year’s Australian Open to focus on his health. Since January Mark Petchey and Jane O’Donoghue had shared coaching duties.

Roig, 57, brings extensive experience. He worked in Rafael Nadal’s set-up from 2005 until 2022, a period when Nadal won 22 Grand Slams and rose to No 1. Roig has also coached the Spain ATP Cup team and previously mentored Sloane Stephens and Matteo Berrettini. He parted ways with Berrettini in October 2024 and had been without a role until linking up with Raducanu.

Former British No 1 Annabel Croft hailed the pairing and underlined why she believes Roig is a strong fit. She told Sky Sports Tennis: “I think he’s a very good appointment, one of the best appointments.

“Anyone who has had that much experience with Rafael Nadal, it’s incredible. I’ve always admired him, I always thought somebody like him might be perfect for her. So I’m excited about the fact she’s chosen him.

“He’s very disciplined and detailed. I think if she likes technical advice, which I think she does, I remember watching him many times with Rafael Nadal discussing the swing path, he’s clearly very technically minded but all Spanish coaches are so good tactically as well.”

Croft also reflected on Raducanu’s qualities and recent form: “You look at her and think, ‘what a talent, you’ve got everything’. Moves beautifully, she’s got choices, has variety, creativity.

“I think she’s a beautiful tennis player and it’s all about getting the matches and the momentum going and building up the bank as I call it and this year she’s definitely built up a bigger bank of matches, and match wins, and that counts for something. I think she’s playing really well.”

Raducanu remains a Grand Slam champion, having won the 2021 US Open as the first qualifier to do so. After surgery on both wrists and one ankle in 2023 she slipped outside the top 300 but has recovered into the top 40 and is currently No 39. This year she reached the semi-final of the Washington DC Citi Open and the quarter-final of the Miami Open in March.

Victoria Mboko’s coaching team framed the decision to skip the Cincinnati Open as a deliberate move to protect the Canadian’s emerging momentum ahead of the US Open. Mboko stunned the tennis world in Montreal, rallying from a set down to beat Naomi Osaka in the final and climb from No 85 to a career-high of world No 24.

That rise is significant: it leaves Mboko in line to be seeded at the US Open, where she will make her third Grand Slam main-draw appearance. She reached the third round at Roland Garros after qualifying and reached the second round at Wimbledon as a lucky loser. Mboko’s Canadian Open title involved victories over four Grand Slam champions, including Osaka, and she will not play another senior match between that triumph and her maiden US Open main-draw appearance.

The Canadian had been granted a special exemption into the second round of the Cincinnati Open but withdrew after managing a wrist issue that surfaced towards the end of her Montreal campaign. Her coach Nathalie Tauziat, a former world No 3 and 1998 Wimbledon runner-up, explained the planning behind the withdrawal.

“After Roland Garros, when we defined the schedule up to the US Open, we set some goals,” said Tauziat.

“Based on the way she’s playing, we know she’s capable of doing something big in New York. We want to focus 100% on that tournament, arriving well prepared and injury-free.

“After Montreal, it was vital to manage the schedule well, which is why we’re not going to Cincinnati.”

Tauziat’s experience includes prior work with Eugenie Bouchard, Leylah Fernandez, and Bianca Andreescu, and she has applied that perspective to Mboko’s rapid ascent. Mboko has not yet contested a senior match in New York; as a junior she reached the girls’ singles semi-finals at the 2022 US Open before losing to eventual champion Alex Eala.

With Zheng Qinwen and Paula Badosa already out of the US Open field, Mboko is currently projected to be the 22nd seed, though that placement could shift depending on results in Cincinnati this week.