Naomi Osaka retired from her Australian Open third round match on Friday.
The Japanese tennis star had just lost the opening set to Belinda Bencic via a tiebreak (7-3) before pulling the plug.
It marked the first time she had withdrawn from a grand slam tournament match in her career.
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Why did Naomi Osaka retire from Australian Open match?
Osaka retired mid-match due to an abdominal strain.
It is an injury that has affected her for several years.
Notably, she pulled out of the Auckland Classic final earlier in January because of the same issue.
The 27-year-old successfully made it through the first two rounds of the Australian Open before succumbing to the injury in the third round.
Osaka’s opponent Bencic offered some words of support during her on-court interview.
“At this moment I really feel for Naomi,” the Swiss player said.
“I saw her struggling a bit at the end of the set. It’s not the way you’d like the match to end.
“It was a good match. Hopefully, she’ll be fine soon and can play well for the rest of the season.”
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Naomi Osaka reacts after Australian Open retirement
Post-match, the former world No. 1 confirmed it was an abdominal issue that forced her to pack things up.
“Update on my injury – it’s not fantastic, and I’m feeling … I mean, not great, not bad. In the middle somewhere,” Osaka said.
After retiring during the Auckland final a couple of weeks ago, Osaka explained it was difficult to manage her injury, particularly considering her tough draw, which saw her play two three-set matches.
“It was a little hectic trying to manage it because my draw was quite tough,” she said.
“But we were also doing everything we could – I was going to therapy every day and stuff like that into the night.
“So the days have been very long for me. Obviously after my last match it got way worse.
“Credit to (Bencic) for being such a good opponent. But yeah, it was just, I guess, a little inevitable, but I think the competitor in me just wanted to see it through until the end.”
