Osaka pulls out of Stuttgart semi with ab strain

World
Europe

Top-ranked Naomi Osaka withdrew from the WTA Stuttgart semifinals due to an abdominal injury on Saturday.

The 21-year-old Japanese was scheduled to play a semi-final tie against Estonian eighth seed Anett Kontaveit on Saturday evening, but announced in the afternoon that she would be unable to play.

This gives her opponent a walkover and Kontaveit goes through to Sunday's final where she will face Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova.

Japan's Naomi Osaka in action during the match in Stuttgart, Germany, April 25, 2019. /VCG Photo

The two-times Grand Slam champion said that she had to roll out of bed on Saturday morning after picking up the injury during her epic comeback from 1-5 down in the final set on Friday when she beat Croatian Donna Vekic.

"I couldn't lift my upper body. I don't expect that I will be able to serve," she said.

"It's an ab strain, something that I've had before. Thankfully, because I've had it so many times, I am able to tell what it is and I know what to do."

Yet having reached the last four of a WTA tournament for the first time since winning the Australian Open last January, Osaka said she was happy with how things had gone in Stuttgart.

"Even though it is bad that I got injured here, I am happy that it happened at the beginning of the clay season, and not in Rome where it is really close to the French Open."

(With inputs from AFP and Reuters)