Osaka's sudden withdrawal from the Australian Open warm-up event came as a shock after playing with no apparent problem in the 35-minute opening set, unleashing some powerful groundstrokes to break her opponent in the third and fifth games.
I just want to thank everyone for welcoming me to such a beautiful city and I had a lot of fun playing here and I'm really sorry about how it ended, Osaka said. I hope you did enjoy the tennis that we did play and I'm just really grateful to be here.
It was an anti-climactic finish to the week for Osaka, who was chasing her first title in four years since winning the 2021 Australian Open. Her most recent final appearance was at the Miami Open the following year.
However, in a statement, the WTA said she retired due to an abdominal injury, raising concerns about her fitness heading into the upcoming Australian Open, starting January 12.
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