Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Naomi Osaka ends four-match losing run as Daria Saville retires injured in Tokyo

Saville suffered a knee injury during the first-round encounter at the Toray Pan Pacific Open

Pa Sport Staff
Tuesday 20 September 2022 12:18 BST
Comments
Naomi Osaka rushes to help Daria Saville after she suffered a knee injury (Hiro Komae/AP)
Naomi Osaka rushes to help Daria Saville after she suffered a knee injury (Hiro Komae/AP) (AP)

Naomi Osaka ended a four-match losing run in unfortunate fashion in Tokyo when opponent Daria Saville retired injured in only the second game of the match.

The Australian’s career has been blighted by injury, including long-term knee and Achilles problems, and it is only this year she has returned to the top 100.

Saville yelped in pain after playing a short forehand and collapsed to the court in distress clutching her left knee. She was able to walk away but did not risk continuing, shaking hands with Osaka after only 11 points.

Osaka has had her own injury problems this year with Achilles and back issues and the former world number one had not won a match since the beginning of August.

She will take on Brazilian fifth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round.

Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin’s struggles continued with a 7-6 (7) 6-4 defeat by Mexico’s Fernanda Contreras Gomez.

Emma Raducanu begins her Korea Open campaign in Seoul on Wednesday against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in