(London) Former world No.1 Naomi Osaka announced on Twitter on Saturday that she will not play the Wimbledon grass court tournament, which begins on June 27, due to a persistent Achilles heel injury. .
Posted at 10:31 a.m.
Updated at 10:50 a.m.
“My Achilles heel is still not healed, so we’ll see you next time”, wrote the Japanese on her official account.
“We wish you a quick recovery and a full return to good health,” wrote the tournament organizers on another tweet relaying that of Osaka.
Three weeks ago, the four-time Grand Slam winner hinted that she was reluctant to line up at Wimbledon for lack of points distributed by the WTA due to the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players from the London Grand Slam tournament.
“I feel like if I play Wimbledon with no points in play, it’s a bit like an exhibition […] I haven’t even made my decision yet, but I’m leaning more towards not playing given the current circumstances, but that could change, ”she explained at a press conference after her elimination in the first round at Roland-Garros.
“Whenever I feel like a tournament looks like an exhibition, I just can’t go 100%,” said the 24-year-old, who fell to 43.e place and who had never reached 8e final on the London turf.
The WTA, like the ATP, which respectively manage the women’s and men’s circuits, announced on Friday that they would not distribute any points to the London Major if it maintains its decision to exclude Russians and Belarusians because of the war in Ukraine.