Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with stomach pain

Sep 22, 2022 | News On Japan

Naomi Osaka was set to play Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round but withdrew saying her “body won’t let” her compete.

TOKYO - Naomi Osaka’s woes deepened when the struggling former world number one pulled out of Japan Open in Tokyo complaining of abdominal pain on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Japanese was set to play Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round later in the day but withdrew saying her “body won’t let” her compete.

Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, was looking to end a poor run of form in Tokyo, where she is the defending champion from the last time the tournament was played in 2019.

She has plummeted to 48 in the women’s world rankings after a wretched run that saw her crash out in the first round of her previous three tournaments.

Osaka’s first-round match in Tokyo against Australia’s Daria Saville lasted just seven minutes before her opponent collapsed with an injured knee.

Saville retired from the match and was later found to have torn her anterior cruciate ligament.

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