MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian open champions Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka pulled out of their warm-up competitions for their first Grand Slam this year on Saturday, announcing injuries.
Osaka pulled out of her Gippsland Trophy semi-final with an unnamed “niggling injury” but said she was looking forward to competing at the Australian Open which starts on Monday.
“It is difficult for Australian Tennis and the fans to pull back today,” Osaka said in a statement submitted by the WTA.
“I have a serious injury and with the OS on the horizon, I have to be careful. I’m looking forward to competing next week. ”
Elise Mertens from Belgium walks to the Gippsland Cup final.
Azarenka, who won the Australian Open titles back-to-back in 2012-13, pulled out of the Grampian Cup semi-final against Annett Kontaveit, allowing the Estonian to walk to the semi-finals last.
The WTA said Belarus had a lower incidence.
The injury is another blow to organizers, coming a day after Serena Williams pulled out of her semi – final against Ash Barty at level one.
Osaka is in third place facing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who was a quarter-finalist in the first round of the Australian Open, while 12th Azarenka seed is expected to meet American Jessica Pegula.
Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Edited by Ken Ferris