The Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff blockbuster in Beijing has just finished in very shocking but also unfortunate circumstances as the Japanese tennis star abruptly retired from the match after the American sent their quarterfinal match into a third set.
Leading 6-3 4-3 and serving, the four-time Grand Slam champion appeared to be inching closer to sealing the biggest win since launching her post-pregnancy comeback. But then out of nowhere, the former world No. 1 started blasting unforced errors – and after the No. 4 seed claimed back-to-back breaks to overturn the deficit and win the second set – the 26-year-old went to her bench and announced to the umpire that she was retiring due to an injury.
While it wasn’t specified what the injury was, it looked like Osaka was dealing with some kind of back issues. Moments after her retirement, the 20-year-old offered to carry her bags.
Osaka had everything in her hands but then Gauff is the one in the Beijing semifinal
The first five games featured inconsistent tennis from both sides as the Japanese lost her serve in the very first game of the match – responded with back-to-back breaks to go 3-1 up – but then blew her break in the following game.
After four breaks were seen through the…
