Former world number one Naomi Osaka withdrew from Wimbledon on Saturday due to an Achilles injury. “My Achilles still isn’t good so I’ll see you next time,” the four-time Grand Slam champion posted on Twitter. Osaka, 24, considered not competing in ATP and WTA tournaments, decided to strip Wimbledon’s ranking points after the All England Club banned Russian and Belarusian tennis players in response to Ukraine’s invasion . Osaka’s tweet, while not specifically mentioning Wimbledon, included a photo of her on the grass and an emoji of a blade of grass.
The Japanese player first suffered from Achilles problems in her opening match in Madrid in May, an injury forcing her to withdraw from the Italian Open afterwards.
This month, she posted a video of a workout on social media with the caption; “This is me running on an underwater treadmill because my Achilles is still very stubborn. I must be getting old or something.”
Osaka’s name appeared on Wimbledon’s singles list when it was announced last week, but she did not feature in any warm-up events on grass.
Osaka, who has never made it past the third round at the All England Club, raised the possibility of missing a grass-court Grand Slam following her first-round loss at the French Open last month.
“I’m more inclined to not compete under the current circumstances. I’m the type of player who gets motivated when I see my rankings go up,” she said.
“I feel as though if I play Wimbledon without the points, it’s like an exhibition,” she continued.
“The intention of this measure is good, but the implementation is everywhere.”
Osaka’s withdrawal follows the withdrawal of former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, who withdrew from the third Grand Slam of the season on Friday.
The Canadian tennis player said the lack of world ranking points did not align with her plans to manage her comeback from injury.
The names of both players are absent from the updated player list.
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Osaka has reached the third round twice, in 2017 and 2018, with her last appearance at the tournament in 2019.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from the syndication feed.)
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