2014 finalist Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw from the 2023 US Open due to a knee injury, the tournament confirmed.
Less than 24 hours before the first ball was struck at Flushing Meadows, Nishikori pulled out due to a left knee injury that has persisted all month. He tried to wait until the very last minute, but it appears that the issue he picked up in Atlanta (where he played with a knee tape) is much more serious. He will be replaced by lucky loser James Duckworth in the draw.
Nishikori missed subsequent events in Washington and the Toronto Masters throwing his participation at this year's US Open in jeopardy. Nishikori was offered a lifeline to play one more tournament before going to New York but withdrew from last week's Stanford Challenger.
He tweeted a statement on X saying that his knee injury had not yet healed completely. The 33-year-old admitted that he would work hard to be back in action, but those efforts have hit a snag now that he has pulled the curtain down on his US Open participation.
The Japanese star was going to use his protected ranking status to play this year's tournament, but the injury is a massive setback in his long-term future in the sport. Nishikori lost 20 months of his career recovering from a career-threatening hip injury that required a very complex surgery.
He missed the entire 2022 calendar and picked up an untimely ankle sprain just when he was set to return to the Tour at the start of the 2023 season. Although that fresh injury set him another four months back, eventually he resumed competing in mid-June, winning his first tournament on his return at the Palmas de Mar Challenger.
His comeback was expected to culminate with a match at this year's US Open - which was always in his plans, but sadly, the extent of his left knee injury leaves a major doubt about his participation in the upcoming Asian swing.
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