Belinda Bencic who is currently the world number 8 in the world has officially pulled out of the US Open.
"I have made the difficult decision to skip the US swing in New York and return to the tour starting in Rome next month.
"I am looking forward to returning to New York next year and wish everyone competing there in the coming weeks the best of luck,"
She joins Ash Barty, Kiki Bertens, Bianca Andreescu, and Elina Svitolina on the womens side who have all decided against playing this year. On the mens side we have seen Nick Krygios and Rafael Nadal opt out of the tournament.
The US as of now has over 5 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 160,000 deaths related to the virus. The Us Open is trying to create a bubble with no fans allowed but the players are against not being able to leave the bubble and the likelihood of having to quarantine when going home.
The tournament is still scheduled to start Monday, August 31st and the final is scheduled for Sunday, September 13th.