Former finalist Casper Ruud made a last-minute pull out on Sunday as the US Open began, with the Norwegian still affected by the back injury which forced his retirement only days ago in Cincinnati.

The runner-up four years ago to Carlos Alcaraz has been carrying the problems for several weeks and pulled the plug on his participation on opening day of the season;s final major.

Ruud becomes the 20th player to withdraw,, a list led by world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who is dealing with a knee injury and who has not played since winning Wimbledon in July.

Ruud was due to start in New York against Juan Manuel Cerundolo, whom he defeated last month in Montreal.

Ruud now faces a rush to fitness if he is to compete at the Laver Cup in London from  September 25.

Second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime returned to the courts six weeks after his last match, with the Canadian controlling Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-5 at the Cincinnati Masters for a winning comeback.

The Canadian sacked his coach and went to ground after losing a five set marathon quarter-final to Novak Djokovic in June, then pulled out last week from his home Masters event in Montreal with back pain.

He showed full fitness as he beat Tsitsipas, the 2022 Cincinnati finalist in 88 minutes, 

He failed to serve it out while leading 5-4 in the second set but managed to finish off the 49th-ranked Greek  two games later with an ace.

“It got really windy, it was pushing against me. I felt like I had no power in my serve,” FAA said..

“It was a tricky ending, but luckily I was able to get the break back. I was able to come back and serve it out better, with the wind this time.

Ben Shelton joined elites Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on Thursday as he won a Canadian Masters 1000 title on Thursday for a second straight year

The ATP No. 10 will move to sixth in the world after defeating fellow American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 7-6 (4) in 87 minutes in Montreal to back up the title he earned in 2025 in Toronto.

Shelton now owns four trophies this season and seven overall. He heads into the ongoing Cincinnati Masters riding a wave of confidence after winning a title without dropping a set for the first time.

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“It speaks to the work that I’ve put in and my mental toughness,” the winner said.

“I was able to focus this week, and it’s not been such a straightforward season for me,” added the player who had won just a single Masters 1000 match out of five played this season before the start of Montreal.

“I’m playing at the top of my limit – I’ve got no words,” 

.Shelton now stands 6-0 against his American compatriot Nakashima after the pair played the all-American Canada final since 1995 (Andre Agassi – Pete Sampras).

Nakashima showed his upset intentions by sending down four aces in his opening service game but then lost five consecutive games as his opponent won the opening set and led 1-0 in the second.

Shelton sent over a pair of aces himself for 6-5 and wrapped up  the finals win with a screaming forehand winner to the far corner.

Main photo:- Ben Shelton retains his Canadian open title – by National Bank Canada