Japanese star Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from Wimbledon, her agent confirmed Thursday, weeks after the world quantity two pulled out of the French Open citing her wrestle with despair and nervousness. “Naomi won’t be playing Wimbledon this year,” Osaka’s agent Stuart Duguid stated in an e mail to AFP. “She is taking some personal time with friends and family. “She might be prepared for the Olympics and is worked up to play in entrance of her residence followers.” On Wednesday, Wimbledon organisers stated the 23-year-old four-time Grand Slam champion was anticipated to participate within the championships, which begin on June 28.
“At this point in time she’s entered into the championships and we haven’t received confirmation that she won’t compete,” All England Club chief govt Sally Bolton stated.
Osaka has been within the highlight since withdrawing from the French Open.
She was fined $15,000 and threatened with disqualification from Roland Garros after she refused to honour necessary media commitments.
French Open organisers protested that that they had handled her with “care and respect” after they have been accused of being heavy-handed.
Osaka misplaced within the third spherical of Wimbledon in 2017 and 2018 and bowed out within the first spherical in 2019. Last yr’s event was cancelled as a consequence of coronavirus.
Earlier Thursday, two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal additionally introduced he could be skipping this yr’s event in addition to the Olympics so as “to prolong my career”.
Wimbledon is the second event Osaka has withdrawn from since abandoning her French Open marketing campaign after one match.
She additionally withdrew from a WTA event in Berlin following Roland Garros.
The Japanese star is anticipated to be one of many faces of the Tokyo Olympics, the place she might be concentrating on a gold medal for the hosts.
Osaka is without doubt one of the most fun abilities to emerge in ladies’s tennis in recent times, and had already gained 4 Grand Slam titles — the 2018 and 2020 US Opens and the 2019 and 2021 Australian Opens.
Osaka, whose father is Haitian, has additionally been a distinguished social activist.
Last yr throughout her victorious US Open marketing campaign, she wore customised face masks onto the courtroom earlier than every sport bearing the names of African-American victims of racial injustice.
However she startled the tennis world on the eve of the French Open by asserting she wouldn’t take part in event press conferences.
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She later revealed that psychological well being points have been behind the choice as she pulled out of the event saying she didn’t need “to be a distraction.”
“The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that,” she defined.
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