Tennis fans are disappointed as one of its most dominant stars was forced to make a sudden and painful exit from the first Grand Slam of the year. Naomi Osaka, a two-time champion at Melbourne Park, officially withdrew from the Australian Open on Saturday just hours before she was set to take the court for her third-round match. The 28-year-old former world No. 1 revealed that an abdominal injury sustained during her previous match has left her unable to compete.

According to ESPN, Osaka’s injury flared up during her grueling second-round victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. While she managed to battle through the pain to secure the win, the recovery process didn’t go as planned.

For Osaka, the decision to step away wasn’t made lightly. She admitted that she has dealt with this specific left abdominal issue in the past and initially hoped that she could play through the pain to keep her title hopes alive. However, after attempting to warm up for her scheduled match, it became clear that her body had reached its limit.

“I played my last match with some pain, and I thought maybe if I gave myself a break before my match today, I would be able to handle it. But I warmed up, and it got a lot worse,” Osaka shared in a statement published by the tournament.

The superstar also touched on the physical toll of her return to professional tennis after welcoming her daughter, Shai, in July 2023. After a 15-month hiatus, Osaka has been candid about how her body has shifted post-pregnancy.

“Obviously I think coming back from pregnancy, my body changed quite a lot,” she explained. “So this is something I have to be really cautious of.”

Taking to social media to share the news with her millions of followers, Osaka expressed her devastation at having to cut her Australian Open run short. Having reached the semifinals of the US Open last year, she arrived in Melbourne with significant momentum and a hunger to reclaim her spot at the top of the rankings.

“I was so excited to keep going and this run meant the most to me, so having to stop here breaks my heart but I can’t risk doing any further damage,” she posted to her Instagram Story.

As for Osaka’s health, the next steps involve a series of tests to determine the severity of the damage and to map out a long-term treatment plan. While her exit leaves a massive void in the women’s draw, her focus remains on a full recovery.

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