Denis Shapovalov withdraws from U.S. Open due to knee injury

Denis Shapovalov is pulling out of the U.S. Open.

The tennis star from Richmond Hill, Ont., made the announcement on social media Wednesday.

Shapovalov stated he had done everything he could to be healthy for the Grand Slam event, but needs more time to recover from a knee injury.

The 24-year-old had withdrawn from the recent National Bank Open in Toronto because of the same injury.

Shapovalov hasn't played since a fourth-round loss at Wimbledon to Roman Safiullin on July 9. He had reached the semifinals there two years earlier for his best Grand Slam result.

Shapovalov's best U.S. Open finish was the quarterfinals in 2020. He is currently ranked 22nd in the world after reaching as high as No. 10.

Main draw begins Aug. 28

Former World No. 1 players Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki headline the eight women who received wild-card entries into the main draw of the U.S. Open.

Play in the main draw begins Aug. 28 in New York.

Others receiving tournament entries are Americans Ashlyn Krueger, Robin Montgomery, Kayla Day and Clervie Ngounoue, as well as Australia's Storm Hunter and France's Fiona Ferro.

Williams won the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001, two of her seven Grand Slam wins. Now 43, she will be making her 24th U.S. Open appearance.

Injuries kept Williams out the first six months of the year, but she competed at Wimbledon and the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.

Williams lost to eventual runner-up Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the first round in London. At the WTA 1000 event near Cincinnati, she defeated Veronika Kudermetova in the first round on Monday for her first top-20 win since 2019.

Wozniacki, 33, returned to competition last week in Montreal for the first time since the 2020 Australian Open. She retired from tennis, gave birth to two children, and decided to return to the tour this summer.

The 2018 Australian Open champion, Wozniacki won her first match at the National Bank Open at Montreal but was defeated in the second round by Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.

She dropped her first-round match at the Cincinatti Open to lucky loser Varvara Gracheva, who represents France.

Wozniacki, from Denmark, is a two-time finalist at the U.S. Open, finishing as the runner-up in 2009 and 2014. She lost to Belgium's Kim Clijsters in 2009 and to Serena Williams in the later match.

Djokovic advances in U.S. return

Novak Djokovic had a short night in his first singles match in the U.S. since 2021, beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Wednesday in the Cincinnati Open after the Spaniard retired early in the second set with a lower back injury.

The second-ranked Djokovic won the first set 6-4, then two points into the second set, Davidovich Fokina hunched over in pain following his return and ended the match after 46 minutes.

Djokovic, 36, lost in doubles on Tuesday in his return to the country after missing events because of COVID-19 vaccine restrictions. It's his first appearance in Cincinnati since 2019. The 2020 Western & Southern Open was played in New York due to COVID-19.

It was Djokovic's first singles match since losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. The winner of a men's-record 23 Grand Slam singles titles, Djokovic will face Frenchman Gael Monfils, who is 0-18 lifetime against him, on Thursday.

Swiatek cruises past Collins

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek has never reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati tournament, but she had an encouraging start to the week, beating American qualifier Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-0.

Swiatek will face Zheng Qinwen in the fourth round after the Chinese professional rallied to defeat 43-year-old Venus Williams 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday.

The biggest upset on the women's side Wednesday was 18-year-old Linda Noskova stunning ninth-ranked Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Kvitova reached the final last year in Cincinnati.

No. 4 Elena Rybakina defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4 in a match that took 2 hours, 17 minutes.

Dabrowski falls in doubles

In doubles plays, Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand fell 7-6 (4), 4-6, 10-1 to Miyu Kato of Japan and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia in the Round of 16.

Dabrowski and Routliffe had nine double faults in the loss. The 31-year-old Dabrowski is ranked 21st in doubles and hasn't won a title this year.

Fourth-ranked men's singles player Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has lost in the semifinals in Cincinnati three straight years, got past American Ben Shelton in straight sets, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2).

It was a good day for Americans.

The Masters 1000 tournament has been played in Cincinnati since 1899 and is the oldest pro tournament still in the same city. Its future is in doubt, with a possible move to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2026.

Lajovic upsets Sinner

Serbian Dusan Lajovic upset world number six Jannik Sinner 6-4 7-6(4) to reach the Cincinnati Open third round, while Daniil Medvedev cruised past Italy's Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-2.

The 66th-ranked Lajovic struck 20 winners in a confident performance to claim his fourth win over a top-10 player this year and next faces American Taylor Fritz, who comfortably beat Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 7-6(1).

Sinner earned his first Masters 1000 title days ago in Toronto but was unable to keep the momentum alive, failing to convert any of the five break point chances he had across the match.

Lajovic converted his lone break point opportunity in the seventh game of a pristine first set in which neither player made many mistakes and kept the momentum going in the second before taking it on the tiebreak.

Former champion Medvedev, who also beat Musetti at last week's Canadian Open before losing in the quarter-finals, broke the Italian twice in each set and won 82 per cent of his first-serve points en route to victory in 77 minutes.

Medvedev wobbled early as he failed to hold serve in the opening game but it did not unsettle the tall Russian as he responded immediately with a break at love and struck again in the eighth game before serving out the first set.

Musetti did well to claw back from 0-40 down to hold for a 2-1 lead in the second but Medvedev responded in style with a love hold and broke the Italian's serve on the next two opportunities before closing out the match.