Naomi Osaka has pulled out of her semifinal matchup at the Melbourne Summer Set, an Australian Open warm-up tournament, due to an abdominal injury.
The four-time Grand Slam singles champion, who beat Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 7-5 in the quarterfinal on Friday, was set to play Russian Veronika Kudermetova Saturday night in the semifinal of the WTA tournament.
“I had a lot of fun playing here in Melbourne,” Osaka said in an official statement. “Unfortunately I have an abdominal injury which I need to rest and prepare for the Australian Open.”
Osaka took to Twitter on Saturday to release her own statement, writing, “Sad to withdraw due to injury from my match today, 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!”
Osaka, who was playing her first tournament since last summer’s U.S. Open, is set to defend her Australian Open crown later this month.
Last summer, the former No. 1 ranked women’s tennis player in the world spoke with Complex about her privilege as a celebrity.
“I want people to know I’m not defined by my sport. I’m defined by my cultures, my voice, my friends, and my passions,” she shared. “I want to be a part of the important yet hard conversations. I want to support the companies that take chances and do big things. More than anything, I want to be a good person and someone young people can look up to as an example. They should know that being different is your gift—it’s what makes you special.”
