Australian Open: “Stopping there breaks my heart”, Naomi Osaka withdraws before her 3rd round

The Australian Open loses one of its headliners. Naomi Osaka, seeded No. 16 and winner of the tournament twice in 2019 and 2021, announced on her Instagram account that she was withdrawing from the rest of the competition.

“I had to make the difficult decision to withdraw to treat a physical problem following my last match. I was so excited to continue and this journey was very important to me. Stopping there breaks my heart, but I can’t risk aggravating my injury,” explained the Japanese, who was to face Australian Maddison Inglis in the third round.

The tournament organization confirmed the withdrawal a few minutes later, specifying that the 28-year-old player was suffering from an “abdominal injury”.

An abdominal injury

A true star of women’s tennis, Naomi Osaka made waves during this first week of competition thanks to her original outfits when she entered the court, but also because of a small controversy in the previous round.

Indeed, a moment of tension had erupted against Sorana Cirstea, who had criticized him for encouraging himself between his two services. An unfair-play attitude in the eyes of the Romanian, but not sanctioned by the referee. It was therefore during this match that Naomi Osaka was injured, leading to her retirement before even competing in the 3rd round.