According to tennis.com on Monday, three-time grand slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland has pulled out of the 2021 United States Open while he is recovering from left foot surgery. In June, Wawrinka had his second foot surgery of 2021, and there are no reports yet regarding when he will be back.
Currently 31st in the world, Wawrinka has not played since losing to South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, in the first round of Doha, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, back in March. Harris meanwhile made tennis headlines a week ago when he beat Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the third round of the Citi Open in Washington.
Among Wawrinka’s three major titles include the 2016 United States Open. There he beat Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Wawrinka also won the 2014 Australian Open and the 2015 French Open.
Ironically, the player replacing Wawrinka in the men’s singles draw for the 2021 United States Open is a three-time grand slam champion in Andy Murray of Great Britain. Murray won the 2012 United States Open also by beating Djokovic, 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2. Murray also won Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016.
Djokovic is the tennis star who has made the most headlines in 2021. That is because he is one major away from being the first tennis player to win the grand slam since Rod Laver of Australia accomplished the feat in 1969. Like Wimbledon, Djokovic is heading into the U.S. Open without participating in a significant warmup tournament. He has elected not to compete at the National Bank Open in Toronto, or the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Roger Federer has also decided not to compete in Toronto and Cincinnati.
There was a possibility that Djokovic had a chance to win the Golden Slam this year. However, he lost in the men’s semifinals of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, to eventual gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany.
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