US Open Final Was Cancelled After Tennis Star Cruelly Forced to Withdraw
A US Open finalist was once unfortunately forced to withdraw from the competition at the last stage after being cruelly struck down with an illness.
The 2025 edition of the American Grand Slam event is currently taking place in New York City and is approaching its climax.
In the men's singles final, defending champion Jannik Sinner will be seeking to retain his crown when he takes on rival Carlos Alcaraz in what will be a rematch of this year's Wimbledon final.
On that occasion, Sinner emerged victorious to claim his first Wimbledon crown as the Italian denied the Spaniard his third successive triumph in a row at the All England Club.
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The women's singles final takes place this evening from around 9pm UK time as Aryna Sabalenka will be aiming to defend her US Open title she won last year when she takes on American Amanda Anisimova.
The men's doubles final sees British pair Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski take on Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentine Horacio Zeballos.
The women's doubles champions have already been crowned after Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand beat American Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniajova of the Czech Republic in straight sets.
The mixed doubles champions have already been crowned with the Italian pair of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori defeating Poland's Iga Swiatek and Casper Rudd of Norway during the tournament's first week.
Back in the 1988 edition of the US Open, the men's doubles final was due to be contested by American duo Jim Pugh and Rick Leach, who were set to take on Spanish pair Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez.
However, Casal and Sanchez were crowned as champions by walkover after the pair of Leach and Pugh were unable to take to the court.
And the reason for this was Leach forcing to withdraw because of being stricken with stomach flu.
According to World Tennis Magazine, Leach fell sick the night before the final and had to halt a practice session due to feeling fatigued.
On the morning of the final itself, Leach was vomiting in the locker room as his condition got worse and he was reportedly seen to be visibly ill and shivering.
It led to him having to withdraw and Casal and Sanchez being crowned men's doubles champion by walkover.
Over the course of his career, Leach won a total of five Grand Slam men's doubles titles including three Australian Open crowns, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Leach - who retired from playing in 2011 - also won four mixed doubles Grand Slams, including two Australian Open titles, Wimbledon and the US Open.
John McDougall