(Reuters) – Jennifer Brady, the 2021 Australian Open runner-up, has withdrawn from next month’s Melbourne Park Grand Slam due to a foot injury, tournament organisers said on Sunday.
American Brady reached her first Grand Slam final in February when she lost to Naomi Osaka in straight sets at Rod Laver Arena.
The world number 25 has not played since retiring from her second-round match against Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August.
Brady is the latest high-profile player to miss the Jan. 17-30 Australian Open, with world number four Karolina Pliskova, Grand Slam champions Serena Williams, Bianca Andreescu and Roger Federer also absent.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
