Naomi Osaka’s promising Australian Open run got here to an unlucky finish after the 27-year-old was compelled to retire injured her third-round match towards Belinda Bencic.
On Friday, the Japanese evidently struggled bodily within the first set and even acquired a medical timeout whereas 6-5 up.
Going into the Australian Open, the four-time Grand Slam champion sustained an stomach damage in Auckland.
Towards Bencic, Osaka gave the impression to be hampered by the identical subject and it was impacting her serve but additionally leg positioning and motion on the courtroom.
Nevertheless, after the Swiss routinely received the tie-break 7-3, the previous world No. 1 retired from the match.
Naomi Osaka and Belinda Bencic© X screenshot
For the Japanese, it was completely heartbreaking to finish her marketing campaign at Melbourne Park – particularly after she beforehand clinched very robust back-to-back wins over Caroline Garcia and Karolina Muchova.
Osaka indicated at the beginning of the match that her situation was removed from good
Within the first week of the season, the 27-year-old reached the Auckland remaining – wherein she retired after one set on account of an stomach damage.
After arriving in Melbourne, the two-time Australian Open winner shared that her MRI “was not fantastic.”
Whereas she confirmed that she would play, it was fairly clear that she wasn’t one hundred pc match and that one thing might probably go incorrect.
“Well, I’m normally a really honest person, but I probably won’t answer your question honestly (smiling),” Osaka mentioned in her pre-tournament presser when requested to share her MRI outcomes.
“But, I mean, the MRI, it wasn’t fantastic but it wasn’t bad at the same time. So saying all that, I’m pretty optimistic about playing my match. I mean, for sure I’m going to play my match.
“Yeah, I have been working towards fairly effectively for the 2 days that I have been right here, so… Appears to be going good.”
