Naomi Osaka withdraws from Australian Open due to abdominal injury

Naomi Osaka withdrew from the Australian Open ahead of her third-round match because of an abdominal injury.

The two-time former champion had been due to face Australian Maddison Inglis in the night session on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday but announced shortly before the contest that she would not be able to take to the court.

Osaka has a history of abdominal problems and retired during her third-round match at Melbourne Park last year against Belinda Bencic after a set.

Writing on Instagram, Osaka said: “I’ve had to make the difficult decision to withdraw to address something my body needs attention for after my last match.

“I was so excited to keep going and this run meant the most to me, so having to stop here breaks my heart but I can’t risk doing any further damage so I can get back on the court.”

The Japanese star would have been fancied for a strong run after reaching the semi-finals of the US Open, and it brings to an end an eventful week for Osaka.

She provided one of the moments of the tournament when she came out for her first-round match against Antonia Ruzic dressed in an extravagant jellyfish-inspired outfit, while the 28-year-old was then involved in a row about respect with second-round opponent Sorana Cirstea after the Romanian took exception to Osaka’s shouts of ‘come on’.

Elsewhere, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula’s podcast will have extra spice after they set up a fourth-round clash.

Keys and Pegula launched The Player’s Box last year along with fellow American players Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk to shed light on life behind the scenes on tour.

And listeners will now get a close-up view of how friendship and rivalry collide, with defending champion Keys saying after a 6-3 6-3 win over Karolina Pliskova: “I think we have to film a podcast before we play the match, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Keys revealed in her press conference that they have already discussed forfeits for the loser of Monday’s clash.

“She wants to make me eat her disgusting apple pie with cheese on top of it if I lose, which I said I refuse, so she’s going to have to think of something else,” said the 30-year-old.

“We’re both going to try to think of something to kind of commemorate this moment. We can see how this one goes and then hopefully be able to capitalise on it and then see how we want to do it in the future, as well.”

They have played three times before, including in the fourth round of the US Open in 2023, and Keys has no concerns that the contest will affect their friendship.

“We’ve been doing it for so long,” she said. “We could literally be friends and laughing until the moment we walk on the court. Then in that moment we both want to win and we both are competitors. We’re going to do whatever we can to get the W.

“The moment it’s over, you’re back to being friends. I think that’s one of those things that I actually really love about tennis, because it’s taught a lot of us how to manage our friendships and relationships and be able to genuinely love each other and are close and all of that, but also still be really competitive.”

Sixth seed Pegula continued her stroll through the draw with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Oksana Selekhmeteva while fourth seed Amanda Anisimova became the fifth American woman through to the last 16, beating countrywoman Peyton Stearns 6-1 6-4.