Tennis: Coric withdraws from US Open with back strain

Coric serves during his first-round match against Evgeny Donskoy of Russia during day one of the US Open. PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK (AFP) - Croatian 12th seed Borna Coric pulled out of his scheduled second-round tie against Grigor Dimitrov at the US Open on Wednesday (Aug 28) due to a lower back injury.

The walkover sends former world number three Dimitrov through to face the winner of Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas or Polish lucky loser Kamil Majchrzak for a place in the last 16.

Coric defeated Russian Evgeny Donskoy 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 6-0 in his opening match and was attempting to make round three in New York for a third straight year.

Dimitrov's best runs at Flushing Meadows came when he reached the fourth round in 2014 and 2016.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.