‘I’ll see you next time’: Osaka pulls out of Wimbledon

A niggling Achilles issue has forced Naomi Osaka to withdraw from this year’s Grand Slam at Wimbledon.

After losing in the first round of the French Open to Amanda Anisimova last month, the four-time Grand Slam champion has been working hard to regain her full health.

Speculation has been rife that Osaka would not compete at Wimbledon after she failed to compete in any of the grass court competitions despite being listed on the singles entrance list. It has been confirmed now as Osaka sent out a social media message noting that she was trying to remember that “after the storm comes the calm”

“My Achilles still isn’t right so I’ll see you next time,” the Japanese tweeted in reference to the grass-court section of the calendar, including Wimbledon.

“I would love to go to get some experience on the grass court, but I am the type of player who gets motivated by seeing my ranking go up,” Osaka said last month when asked about her participation in the grass-court Slam with a veiled reference to the absence of points at the London club Slam.