American tennis player Reilly Opelka has withdrawn from the 2022 US Open, enabling compatriot Jack Sock an entry into the main draw of the season-ending Grand Slam.
Opelka did not explain any reason for his absence from the US Open, but given his recent schedule and injuries, the withdrawal did not come as a surprise.
The American has not played in the last two Masters 1000 tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati, losing his finalist points from the 2021 Canadian Open.
Sock, who was on the fringes of gaining direct entry into the US Open, was expected to get a place in the main draw after Novak Djokovic's likely withdrawal. However, given his compatriot's withdrawal, the American is now into the main draw of the New York Major.
Djokovic will not be allowed to play at the US Open under current US border rules due to his unvaccinated status. Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev, who is nursing an ankle injury, has withdrawn from the Grand Slam event as well.
Zverev has been out of action since undergoing surgery after suffering an ankle injury at the French Open earlier this year.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.