Marin Cilic, the 37-year-old former US Open champion, ranked #81 in the ATP, has officially withdrawn from this year’s Grand Slam tournament in New York.
Cilic’s decision follows a challenging North American circuit, where he managed to secure only one victory this summer, winning in the first round at Montreal. The reasons behind his withdrawal have not been disclosed, but the official US Open website cites an injury as the cause.
This marks another disappointment for Cilic at the event that secured him the most prestigious title of his career. He will miss the US Open for the third time in the last four years.
In the first round, Cilic was slated to face Andrey Rublev, 28, ranked #24 ATP. Otto Virtanen, a 25-year-old ranked #109 ATP, will take Cilic’s place in the main draw. However, there is some confusion surrounding Virtanen’s entry as a “lucky loser”; he had to withdraw from his final qualifying match against Grigor Dimitrov, allowing the Bulgarian to advance without competing.
Following Cilic’s withdrawal, Virtanen is now set to compete against Rublev today at 6 PM.
In the 2014 US Open final, Cilic triumphed over Kei Nishikori with a score of 6–3, 6–3, 6–3, securing his first major title and becoming the second Croatian to win a Grand Slam singles tournament, following his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001. Throughout his career, Cilic has reached two other Grand Slam finals but was defeated in both at Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018.
