AFP23 August 2024 | 6:52

Former runner-up Jabeur out of US Open

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, who has been struggling with a shoulder injury, withdrew from the US Open on Thursday, officials said.

Former runner-up Jabeur out of US Open

FILE: Tunisia's Ons Jabeur celebrates defeating Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in their 2022 US Open Tennis tournament women's singles quarter-final match against at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on 6 September 2022. Picture: KENA BETANCUR/AFP

NEW YORK - Tunisia's Ons Jabeur, who has been struggling with a shoulder injury, withdrew from the US Open on Thursday, officials said.

World number 17 Jabeur was runner-up to Iga Swiatek in the 2022 final in New York.

Jabeur, a former world number two, skipped the Olympics in an effort to preserve her fitness but then withdrew from the Washington WTA tournament at the start of the US Open hardcourt swing.

She then lost in the first round at Toronto to Naomi Osaka before pulling out of the Cincinnati Open last week.

Her slot in the US Open draw passes to Elise Mertens of Belgium. Mertens' spot in turn will go to a qualifier.