Obstacles on the path to glory at the YONEX US Open 2023 decreased for women’s singles top seed Ratchanok Intanon and third seed Pusarla V. Sindhu following the withdrawals of two contenders.

Fourth-seeded home hope Beiwen Zhang announced last week after pulling out of the YONEX Canada Open 2023 semifinals due to an Achilles injury she would not be participating in Omaha. Also out is Intanon’s compatriot, second seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

Intanon, whose initial opponent Lianne Tan also withdrew, now faces Irishwoman Rachael Darragh in the opening round. Beiwen and Ongbamrungphan have been replaced by Julie Dawall Jakobsen and Ksenia Polikarpova.

Pusarla, looking to become the first Indian women’s singles winner in tournament history, gets a bye to second the round.

With Intanon and Pusarla in the top half, they are likely to cross swords in the semis. The remaining seeds in the bottom half are Supanida Katethong (No.6) and Line Christophersen (8).

The following players have also been promoted to the main draw.

Women’s singles

1. Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar (in place of Clara Azurmendi)
2. Vanessa Maricela Garcia Contreras (Talia Ng)
3. Sabrina Solis (Jenjira Stadelmann)
4. Haramara Gaitan (Qi Xuefei)
5. Tereza ŠvÁbÍkovÁ (Pornpicha Choeikeewong)

Click here to view the updated draw.

YONEX US Open 2023 starts today, with the first match scheduled at 10pm Kuala Lumpur time (UTC +8).

Fun fact: Thailand’s only US Open women’s singles title was courtesy of Sapsiree Taerattanachai (2013).