JOHANNA Konta has pulled out of the US Open through injury hours before her first-round match.
The Eastbourne-based tennis player has been forced to withdraw from the US Open with a left thigh injury just hours before she was due to take the court.
She was scheduled to face French player Kristina Mladenovic on Monday afternoon, but has been replaced by Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia.
The withdrawal marks another setback for the British number one.
Konta was also forced to pulled out of this year’s Wimbledon and the delayed Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for Covid-19.
She previously said she developed symptoms before testing positive and was unable to train for two and a half weeks.
Konta had previously won the Nottingham Open in the build up to Wimbledon 2021 but had only been able to compete in 15 matches this year due to injury and Covid related constraints.
The tennis star returned to action following her absences with a win against world number five Elina Svitolina, in the Canadian Open before withdrawing from her last 16 match with a knee injury.
Having been unable to defend quarter-final results from 2019 at both Wimbledon and the US Open, Johanna may fall outside the top 60 after starting the season ranked 14th.
The 30-year-old is the fourth prominent player to withdraw from the US Open on the opening day of the tournament after 13th seed, Jennifer Brady, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and Jo Wilfried Tsonga all withdrew on Monday.
Jennifer Brady had been due to face Emma Raducanu in the first round on Tuesday, meaning the 18 year old will make her US Open main draw debut against Stefanie Vogele.
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