Tunisia's Ons Jabeur has withdrawn from the upcoming US Open, which starts on Monday.
Jabeur had been seeded No.17 in the women's singles draw, which was released earlier on Thursday, but she has pulled out due to injury.
Jabeur's seeded spot will be filled by the next highest-ranked player eligible to be seeded, Belgium's Elise Mertens, who will become the No.33 seed. Mertens will now take on Veronika Kudermetova in the opening round.
Mertens' previous spot in the draw will be filled by a qualifier or lucky loser. Jabeur's withdrawal means there will be at least one lucky loser in next week's main draw.
Thank you 💔🙌 https://t.co/a9QB3iAtmi
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) August 22, 2024
Former World No.2 Jabeur has been struggling with injuries of late. Most recently, she withdrew from Washington and Cincinnati due to a right shoulder injury. Her only match during this summer's hard-court swing has been an opening-round loss to Naomi Osaka in Toronto.
Jabeur reached one of her three Grand Slam finals at the US Open in 2022, finishing runner-up to World No.1 Iga Swiatek. Jabeur also reached the Wimbledon final in both 2022 and 2023.
Jabeur has a 16-8 career main-draw win-loss record at the US Open. In addition to her 2022 final, she made the Round of 16 at last year's edition. All told, Jabeur made the US Open third round or better in each of the last five years.