LONDON, Jan. 5 (dpa/EP) –
Japan’s Naomi Osaka, former world number one, has been forced to abandon the final of the Auckland (New Zealand) tournament, in the WTA 250 category and played on hard courts, due to an abdominal injury just one week before the start of the Open. Australia.
The four-time Grand Slam champion won the first set against Denmark’s Clara Tauson 6-4 before immediately calling a medical timeout that would signal the end of the match.
“I just want to thank everyone for hosting me in such a beautiful city. I had a great time playing here. I’m very sorry for how it ended,” Osaka said in an interview on the court after wiping away tears.
Osaka, who was playing in her first WTA circuit final in almost three years, took a 5-1 lead in the first set thanks to two consecutive breaks. Tauson staged a small comeback, but Osaka closed out the set before consulting her coach and ending the match.
Now, doubts return about Osaka’s physical condition ahead of the Australian Open, which she won in 2019 and 2021. But the 27-year-old Japanese was not scheduled to play any tournament this week before the first ‘big’ of the season in Melbourne .
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