Andy Murray has been added to the US Open main draw after Swiss former champion Stan Wawrinka withdrew.
Murray, who won his first Grand Slam title at the tournament in 2012, withdrew from the men’s singles at the Tokyo Olympics with a thigh strain.
And three-time US Open winner Novak Djokovic, 34, pulled out of the Cincinatti Masters warm-up tournament to focus on the US Open.
The Serb is bidding to win all four Grand Slam events in the same year.
“I am taking a bit longer to recover and recuperate after quite a taxing journey from Australia to Tokyo,” Djokovic said.
“I’ll turn my focus and attention to [the] US Open and spend some more time with family.”
Murray, 34, played in the Olympic doubles and lost in the quarter-finals alongside Joe Salisbury.
He made it to the Wimbledon third round in July, losing to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in straight sets.
It was the first Grand Slam Murray had played in 2021, after missing the Australian Open because of a positive coronavirus test and deciding not to compete in June’s French Open.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, who had hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019, lost in the second round to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2020 US Open.
Wawrinka, who won the event in 2016, withdrew as the 36-year-old continues to recover from foot surgery.
The US Open runs from August 30 to September 12. (BBC)
