Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Melbourne Summer Set due to an abdominal injury. The Japanese tennis star was due to compete in the semi-final of the WTA 250 event this morning as she prepares to defend her title at the Australian Open later this month.Her retirement from the event sees her scheduled opponent Veronika Kudermetova progress into the final where she will face Simona Halep.Osaka announced her withdrawal from the tournament on Twitter in the early hours of Friday morning."Sad to withdraw due to injury from my match today," the world number 13 wrote. "My body got a shock from playing back-to-back intense matches after the break I took."Thank you for all the love this past week. I’ll try to rest up and I’ll see you soon!"
The four-time Grand Slam champion made her return to the court at the Melbourne Summer Set earlier this month, after taking some time off following the US Open.
Osaka took a break from tennis in the wake of her withdrawal from the French Open back in May. The 24-year-old decided to boycott Roland Garros media duties in attempt to protect her mental wellbeing.
"I've often felt people have no regard for athletes' mental health and this rings very true when whenever I see a press conference or partake in one," she wrote on Twitter.
"We're often sat there and asked questions that we've been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I'm just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me."
Osaka then missed Wimbledon but featured at the 2020 Olympics, where she was the torchbearer for the postponed Games in Tokyo.
The former world number one then competed at the US Open, where she hoped to defend her title. However, she faced defeat at the hands of eventual runner-up Leylah Fernandez in the third round.
Shortly after her exit from Flushing Meadows, Osaka announced she would be taking an indefinite break from tennis to focus on her mental health.
The injury sustained at the Melbourne Summer Set will certainly be frustrating for the Japanese star. However, her promise of seeing her fans again soon suggests she is working on returning in time to defend her title at the Australian Open.
Russia's Kudermetova will take on Halep of Romania in the final of the Melbourne WTA event tomorrow morning at 06.00 GMT.
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