Naomi Osaka withdraws from Bad Homburg final in Wimbledon injury scare
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka suffered a major setback ahead of Wimbledon after retiring from the Bad Homburg final against Karolina Muchova with a foot injury.
The 28-year-old was competing in her first-ever grass-court final but pulled out while trailing the Czech player 6-1 1-0 in Germany.
Having already taken a medical timeout during the opening set, the Japanese star eventually signalled she could no longer continue before shaking hands with the umpire and her opponent.
Wimbledon hopes hanging in the balance
The poorly timed injury raises serious questions about her fitness for the All England Club, with the third major of the year starting on Monday.
Seeded 14th for the prestigious grass-court tournament, she is currently scheduled to face Frenchwoman Elsa Jacquemot in the opening round.
Despite her dominant pedigree on hard surfaces, the former world number one has traditionally struggled on grass and has never progressed beyond the third round in SW19.
Apology to the Bad Homburg crowd
Despite her evident disappointment, the 14th seed stayed on court to address the spectators during the trophy presentation ceremony.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who came to watch the match.”
“I apologise for not being able to finish, but this atmosphere was incredible the whole week.”