In the latest tennis news, former no. 1, Naomi Osaka withdrew from the second round match of the Pan Pacific Open tournament against Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia in Tokyo on Thursday. She was struggling with abdominal pain. Hence she had to end her title defense in the middle of the match.
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"I am really sorry that I am not able to compete today, It's an honor to be able to play at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in front of the amazing fans here in Japan. This has and always will be a special tournament for me and I wish I could have stepped on the court today, but my body won't let me." 24-year-old Japanese said.
Osaka was the defending champion of the last season in 2019. The four-time Grand Slam winner was looking to end a poor run of form in Tokyo. Her first-round match against Daria Saville lasted just seven minutes before the Australian injured her knee and retired.
"Thank you for all your support this week and I will see you next year," she added.
On the other tennis news, Czech Republic star Karolina Pliskova, the No. 6 seed, was eliminated in the second round by Croatia's Petra Martic 6-3, 6-4. Besides, no. 4 seed Veronika Kudermetova defeated Fernanda Contreras Gomez 6-0, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals. Liudmila Samsonova defeated Wang Xinyu 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Beatriz Haddad Maia will face next either fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova or Mexican qualifier Fernanda Contreras.