Badosa pulls out of US Open as injury woes continue

Spain’s Paula Badosa, ranked 12th in the world, has withdrawn from the US Open, tournament officials announced on Friday.

The 27-year-old Spaniard, who has battled back issues similar to those that kept her from the 2023 US Open, will miss the Flushing Meadows fortnight for the second time in three seasons after making a US Open last-eight run in 2024.

Badosa, who reached her first Grand Slam semi-final at this year’s Australian Open, has not played since losing to Britain’s Katie Boulter in the first round at Wimbledon.

Badosa had been set to pair with Britain’s Jack Draper in mixed doubles as well as compete in women’s singles.

In an Instagram message posted Friday, Badosa recounted her struggles without saying she would drop out of the US Open.

“I wasn’t built by easy days. I was shaped by the moments that broke me, the choices that didn’t go as planned and the times I fell short of who I wanted to be,” Badosa recalled on social media.

“Failure taught me what success never could. It humbled me. It forced me to look inward, to ask hard questions, to rebuild with more intention and clarity.

“Every mistake I made sharpened my understanding of who I am and who I’m not. And while I once feared those mistakes, I now see them as some of my greatest teachers.”

Badosa has won four WTA titles, the most recent coming last August in Washington.

Her departure allows Swiss Jil Teichmann to reach the women’s main draw for the Grand Slam showdown, which starts August 24.

France’s Alize Cornet moves into the first alternate spot for the main draw.

Meanwhile, newly minted Toronto Masters champion Ben Shelton will open his account at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open against Camilo Ugo Carabelli after the Argentine defeated Kei Nishikori 7-5, 6-3 on Friday.

World number seven Shelton arrived in the American Midwest on a private jet after winning his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto on Thursday night and will make his start after a first-round bye in the final major tune-up before the US Open begins on August 25.

The 47th-ranked Ugo Carabelli dominated 2014 US Open finalist Nishikori as the former top Asian in tennis succumbed to 42 unforced errors and lost serve five times.

The Japanese player was competing for the first time since retiring injured at Geneva in mid-May.

Ugo Carabelli has played his best on clay, reaching four semi-finals on the dirt this season.

As Cincinnati fifth seed and with confidence still strong, the 22-year-old Shelton could be a formidable contender for a pre-Open title double.

“I hope that this (Toronto) week kick starts me and gets me more consistent with the type of tennis that I want to play day-in and day-out,” he said in Canada.

“It’s certainly going to push me to work harder. I feel like I have a good grasp now on the things that really work for me against guys who are playing some of the best tennis in the world, and the things that I need to continue to work on.”

Back-to-back events running 12 days each might be a fitness wild card as the bloated schedules of the ATP-WTA tournaments become commonplace.

Agencies