Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the Australian Open, without citing an injury or some other reason. The feeling in the air is that the four-time Grand Slam champion is avoiding tennis, ever since she took a mental health break after withdrawing from 2021 French Open due to her media boycott drama.
The 25-year-old Osaka, who won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, hasn’t competed since the 2022 Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis in September, but even then her sole match win came when Australia’s Daria Saville retired after just one game. Since playing the 2022 Miami Open final in early April, Osaka has won only two completed matches.
It seems that Osaka is tired of tennis and that she would like to end her career, but it’s too big a decision. What do you think? Tell us in the comments.
Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska has moved into the main draw of the Australian Open now that Osaka is out. Another big-name player to miss the upcoming major is Venus Williams, who suffered an injury this month in Auckland and was forced to withdraw.
