US Open: Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens the latest to withdraw from Grand Slam

Svitolina reached the US Open semi-final last year
Getty Images
Matt Davies7 August 2020

Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens have both withdrawn from this month's US Open, joining a growing list of players to pull out of the Grand Slam.

The pair, ranked world number five and seven respectively, follow the examples of Rafael Nadal and Ashleigh Barty, who dropped out of both the US Open and the Western & Southern Open the week prior.

The prestigious tournament is scheduled to begin at a behind-closed-doors Flushing Meadows on August 31, with the US Open organisers (USTA) creating a bio-secure 'bubble' in an attempt to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

However, while the spread of Covid-19 remains highly prevalent in the United States, there are significant concerns over facing mandatory quarantines following the players' returns home.

"I understand and respect all the efforts they are putting to make it happen in a safe environment, but I still don't feel comfortable to travel to US without putting my team and myself at high risk," last year's semi-finalist Svitolina said on Twitter.

Bertens wrote on Instagram: "The situation around COVID-19 is still worrying and the health of everyone and the control over this virus is priority.

"Our Prime Minister indicated yesterday that we should be quarantined for 14 days after coming back from the States.

"Of course we respect this as a team and this would disturb our preparation for my beloved clay court tournaments in Rome and Paris."

Meanwhile, former World No.1 Andy Murray, whose 2012 US Open win was the first of his three Grand Slam titles, will be in attendance having been handed a wildcard invitation to the tournament.

The Scot believes an opportunity to play is "worth the risk", but on Monday agreed players needed assurances they wouldn't subsequently have to quarantine.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in