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Four-time Grand Slam tennis champion and former world number 1 Naomi Osaka has retired from the 2022 Wimbledon tournament.
Wimbledon released its withdrawal list on Saturday. It included Osaka, who will miss the event due to a leg injury:
Dan Clouds @DanClouds
Naomi Osaka is retiring from Wimbledon due to a leg injury https://t.co/UvaTfb4oxi
This is the second year in a row that Osaka has lost at Wimbledon. He has not played in the tournament since 2019, as it was canceled in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, Osaka won the Australian Open and entered the French Open, but withdrew before the second round at Roland Garros when she was threatened with fines and other punishments for refusing to talk to the media out of anxiety.
Osaka later took a long leave of absence, losing to Wimbledon, before returning to the 2021 U.S. Open.
The 24-year-old only ranks 43rd in the world, largely due to the significant amount of time she has lost over the past two years.
Osaka has not played its best tennis this year either, being knocked out in the third round of the Aussie Open and the first round of the French Open by Amanda Anisimova on both occasions.
She reached the final of the Miami Open in April, but Osaka fell to world number one Iga Swiatek in consecutive sets.
Even when healthy, Osaka has not had much success at Wimbledon during her career, never reaching beyond the third round. Nor does she have a turf win on the turf as a WTA player.
Assuming leg injury isn’t a long-term issue, taking time off may allow Osaka to prepare for the U.S. Open, which begins in late August. Osaka is a two-time U.S. Open champion, having won the event in 2018 and 2020.
As for Wimbledon, it will continue without Osaka, from June 27 until July 10.