Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from Wimbledon.
Osaka’s name was included on the list of withdrawals Saturday, with a leg injury noted as the reason for her dropping out. Osaka had been playing through a left Achilles injury and had tape on her foot during a first-round loss at the French Open last month.
She confirmed her withdrawal on social media Saturday, tweeting, “my Achilles still isn’t right so I’ll see you next time,” and writing, “there goes my grass dreams,” in an Instagram post.
Osaka suffered the injury in Madrid, forcing her to miss the WTA 1000 event in Rome ahead of the French Open.
She had also expressed doubt about playing at the All England Club following her loss at Roland Garros. The former world No. 1 said the removal of ranking points at Wimbledon this year following its ban of Russian and Belarusian players would be a factor in her decision, saying the Grand Slam was now “more like an exhibition.”
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“I would love to go just to get some experience on the grass court, but like at the same time for me, it’s kind of like — I don’t want to say pointless, no pun intended, but I’m the type of player that gets motivated by, like, seeing my ranking go up or like, you know, stuff like that,” Osaka said May 23. “So I think the intention was really good, but the execution is kind of all over the place.”
Osaka, a two-time champion at both the Australian and US Opens, has never made it past the third round at Wimbledon.
Also withdrawing Saturday was 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard due to a shoulder injury. Bernarda Pera and Laura Pigossi have been added to the field in their places.
Information from ESPN’s Tom Hamilton and Reuters was used in this report.
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