Virtanen forced to withdraw from Dimitrov showdown and misses US Open

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/virtanen-otto/hnYnFaTm/"]Virtanen[/a], who reached the second round at Wimbledon earlier this year, had already beaten [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/blanchet-ugo/pSmNT7D2/"]Ugo Blanchet[/a] of France in straight sets and Great Britain's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pinnington-jones-jack/jRDvhb4q/"]Jack Pinnington Jones[/a] in three sets in the qualifiers, which set up a match against former world number three [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dimitrov-grigor/SQgEEKh4/"]Dimitrov[/a].[/p][p]However, the Bulgarian progressed to take his place in the main draw without a ball being served, as [b]Virtanen was unable to recover in time from a back injury he sustained in the second set against Pinnington Jones, [/b]handing Dimitrov a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/dimitrov-g-SQgEEKh4/virtanen-o-hnYnFaTm/?mid=fuhL3BYq"]walkover[/a].[/p][p]The ninth seed in qualifying battled through the pain to take the deciding set against the Brit, but was unable to recover in time, and therefore leaves Finland without a representative in men's or women's singles at the tournament in Queens.[/p][p]A US Open semi-finalist in 2019, Dimitrov is looking to work his way back up the rankings after a pectoral injury at Wimbledon 2025 kept him out of action before inconsistent form on his return sees him currently ranked 140th, three places below Virtanen.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/atp-singles/us-open/"]Follow all the US Open 2026 qualifiers on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]