Two-times champion Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the 2023 Australian Open, organisers stated on Sunday. No explicit purpose has been given for the withdrawal and the Australian Open stated that Ukranian Dayana Yastremska has been moved into the primary attract Osaka’s absence. The Australian Open begins on January 16 in Melbourne.
The Japanese former world primary’s identify was on the entry record for the Australian Open however Osaka was not scheduled to play in warm-up tournaments in Adelaide and Hobart, elevating doubts about her participation within the hardcourt main. “Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We’ll miss her at #AO2023,” the Australian Open tweeted. “Dayana Yastremska strikes into the primary draw.”
Osaka had received the title in 2019 and 2021. Final yr, the previous No.1 superior to the third spherical, the place she bowed out to Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). She had been knocked out of the US Open final yr within the first spherical and final performed within the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September. She reached the second spherical of that event earlier than withdrawing because of sickness.
Osaka’s withdrawala from the Australian Open comes a day after American seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams was dominated out of the Australian Open because of harm in a double blow to the organisers. Williams, who’s into the thirtieth season on the WTA Tour, sustained an harm on the ASB Basic in Auckland, New Zealand, thus forcing her to withdraw from the Australian Open for which she had obtained a wildcard.
Osaka, who has slipped to 42 on the planet rankings, had taken a break to prioritise her psychological well being after skipping the 2021 French Open and later stated that she was battling melancholy.