Ostapenko pulls out of US Open

New York, Aug. 25: Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, pulled out of the U.S. Open, citing a change of schedule.

She is the latest woman with a Grand Slam title or high ranking to withdraw from the tournament that begins next week amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Six of the top eight women in the WTA rankings already were out, including No.1 Ash Barty, the reigning champion at Roland Garros, and No.6 Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 winner at Flushing Meadows.

DJOKOVIC BATTLES NECK PAIN FOR A WIN

World number one Novak Djokovic battled through neck pain on the way to a 76 (7/2), 6-4 victory over Ricardas Berankis at the Western & Southern Open, where second seed Dominic Thiem crashed out. Djokovic made it through to the Round of 16 despite the sore neck, for which he received treatment on court.

Djokovic twice went down a break in the second set, but broke back both times. He let out a roar when he broke for a 5-4 lead then calmly served it out. He next faces American Tennys Sandgren, a 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 76 (7/5) winner over 15thseeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The upset of the day was at the opposite end of the men’s draw, as 32nd-ranked Filip Krajinovic of Serbia toppled Austria’s Thiem 62, 6-1. Krajinovic lined up a meeting with Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, who ousted 14th-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov

7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Meanwhile, Andy Murray also notched an upset, surprising world number seven Alexander Zverev 63, 3-6, 7-5 for his first win over a top-10 player in more than three years.

SERENA MADE TO WORK HARD FOR VICTORY

In women’s action, thirdseeded Serena Williams bucked the upset trend that saw top seed Karolina Pliskova and number two Sofia Kenin ousted on Sunday. Serena battled back from the brink against qualifier Arantxa Rus to win 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7/0). — Agencies