Naomi Osaka withdraws from Wimbledon due to Achilles injury

Former world number one Naomi Osaka will not play in the upcoming Wimbledon tournament, withdrawing her name on Saturday due to a leg injury. 

Osaka has been attempting to play through an Achilles injury, which occurred prior to last month’s French Open where she lost in the first round. 

Osaka’s name was listed among players who had withdrawn from the tournament on Saturday, and the four-time Grand Slam winner confirmed the news on social media. 

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“My Achilles still isn’t right so I’ll see you next time,” Osaka posted to social media. 

Osaka has not played at Wimbledon since 2019, after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Osaka took a leave of absence from tennis prior to 2021 Wimbledon. 

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Prior to Saturday’s announcement, Osaka was already unsure if she would participate at Wimbledon, following the news that the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) would not award any ranking points at Wimbledon due to The All-England Club’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

 

“I would love to go just to get some experience on the grass court, but like at the same time, for me, it’s kind of like — I don’t want to say pointless, no pun intended, but I’m the type of player that gets motivated by, like, seeing my ranking go up or, like, you know, stuff like that,” Osaka said May 23, according to ESPN. “So I think the intention was really good, but the execution is kind of all over the place.”

Osaka has never won at Wimbledon, but is a two-time U.S. Open and Australian Open champion. 

Wimbledon is scheduled to be played from June 27 to July 10.