More recently, Rafael Nadal decided to shut down his season to recover from an ongoing foot injury, also ruling him out of competition in New York.
The Spaniard had not played since Roland Garros, where he suffered a shock semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic, and returned to action at the ATP 500 in Washington, playing two matches.
He then went to Canada for the Toronto Masters but pulled out ahead of his match and flew home to Spain to consult with his doctors before ending his season early.
It means this year’s US Open will be the first Grand Slam tournament since the 1997 US Open that none of Serena, Federer or Nadal are appearing in the main draw.
Defending men’s singles champion Dominic Thiem also cut his 2021 season short after picking up a right wrist injury at the Mallorca Championships in June.
Meanwhile on the women’s side, two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep is in doubt to be ready in time for the US Open after pulling out of Cincinnati with a small muscle tear.
The Romanian had been out of competition since May after picking up an injury at the Italian Open, and only returned to action in Montreal.