Naomi Osaka withdraws from Wimbledon with ‘Achilles’ injury

Former world No 1 Naomi Osaka says she has pulled out of the Wimbledon tennis on Saturday with an Achilles injury.

Japan's Naomi Osaka during the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne last January. Picture:

Former world No 1 Naomi Osaka pulled out of the Wimbledon tennis on Saturday with an Achilles injury.

“My Achilles still isn’t right so I’ll see you next time,” the four-time Grand Slam winner posted on Twitter.

Osaka, 24, was already considering not playing over the ATP and WTA tours decision to strip Wimbledon of ranking points after the All England Club banned Russian and Belarusian players in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Osaka’s tweet, although not mentioning Wimbledon specifically, was accompanied by a photo of herself on a grass court, and an emoji of a blade of grass.

my Achilles still isn’t right so I’ll see you next time 🥹🌱👋🏾 pic.twitter.com/mryWdKnitN

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) June 18, 2022

The Japanese player’s name had appeared on the singles entry list for Wimbledon when it was released last week, but she has not appeared in any of the grass-court events.

Osaka, who has never got beyond the third round at the All England Club, raised the possibility of missing the grass court Grand Slam after her first round loss at last month’s French Open.

“I’m leaning more towards not playing given the current circumstances. I’m the type of player that gets motivated by seeing my ranking go up,” she said.

AFP