Two-time champion Naomi Osaka pulled out of the Australian Open with an abdominal injury ahead of her third-round clash on Saturday, saying “it breaks my heart”.
The Japanese superstar made the announcement just hours before she was due to meet Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis on centre court in Melbourne. “I’ve had to make the difficult decision to withdraw to address something my body needs attention for after my last match,” said the 16th seed on Instagram. “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 so I can get back on court, ” she said.
Meanwhile, six-time major champion Iga Swiatek endured a roller-coaster ride before sealing her place in the last 16. The Polish second seed wobbled before beating 31st Russian seed Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 1-6, 6-1. Earlier, Keys revelled in the scorching temperatures to set up a last-16 showdown with podcast co-host Jessica Pegula. Matches started an hour earlier than usual because of the heatwave, and Keys had no intention of hanging about. She dismissed former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3.
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