Stuttgart : World number one Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the WTA tournament in Stuttgart due to abdominal injury.
The 21-year-old Japanese was scheduled to play her semi-final tie against Estonian eighth seed Anett Kontaveit Saturday evening.
Osaka said that she had to roll out of bed on Saturday morning after picking up the injury during her quarter-final win over Donna Vekic on Friday.
“I couldn’t lift my upper body. I don’t expect that I will be able to serve,” she said.
“It’s an ab strain, something that I’ve had before. Thankfully, because I’ve had it so many times I am able to tell what it is and I know what to do,” she added.
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Osaka had broken the news of her pain to her staff after her dramatic comeback against Croatia’s Vekic on Friday.
Osaka, who reached her first semi-final on clay in Stuttgart, said that she might have jinxed herself by talking about injury ahead of the tournament.
Having reached the last four of a WTA tournament for the first time since winning the Australian Open , Osaka said she was happy with how things had gone in Stuttgart.
“Even though it is bad that I got injured here, I am happy that it happened at the beginning of the clay season,and not close to the French Open," she concluded.
