Tennis fans were left disappointed on Wednesday when Naomi Osaka joined Ash Barty in skipping a key lead-up event ahead of this month’s US Open. Organisers of the National Bank Open hard-court event in Montreal announced that Osaka had pulled out on Wednesday.
The tournament announced the withdrawals of Osaka, as well as Sofia Kenin and Iga Swiatek – two other top-10 players who have won grand slam titles. World No.1 Barty was also absent when the official entry list was announced last week, as was 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams.
Tennis fans were left disappointed on Wednesday when Naomi Osaka joined Ash Barty in skipping a key lead-up event ahead of this month’s US Open. Organisers of the National Bank Open hard-court event in Montreal announced that Osaka had pulled out on Wednesday.
The tournament announced the withdrawals of Osaka, as well as Sofia Kenin and Iga Swiatek – two other top-10 players who have won grand slam titles. World No.1 Barty was also absent when the official entry list was announced last week, as was 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams.
Osaka is coming off a third-round loss at the Tokyo Olympics, where she had the honour of lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremony. Before that, the 23-year-old had not competed anywhere since withdrawing before her second-round match at the French Open, citing the need for a mental health break.
She also sat out Wimbledon entirely, watching on as Barty won her second grand slam title and extended her lead atop the world rankings. “I’m sorry to be missing out on Montreal this year,” Osaka said. “I hope to see you all in Canada next year.” Barty missed out on a medal in the singles and women’s doubles, but managed to claim bronze with John Peers in the mixed doubles.
Osaka is currently ranked No.2 and is the owner of four major championships, all on hard courts, including this year’s Australian Open. The fourth-ranked Kenin, who won the 2020 Australian Open, has been sidelined by a foot injury since Wimbledon. World No.8 Swiatek, last year’s French Open champion, lost in the second round of the Olympics.
Fans were left disappointed by the spate of withdrawals.
Montreal WTA is gonna be a shambles
Bencic, Krejcikova, Vondrousova & Alexandrova also withdrew today joining Osaka, Kenin & Swiatek who withdrew yesterday
— Eggy 🥚 (@TheBoiledEgg)
😥😥😥Naomi is really going through a lot it seems. I feel so bad for her despite not knowing her personally. This is about more than a sport. — Miyanaire 💗 (@Miyanaire)
I’m a Naomi fan, but this selective scheduling is extremely disappointing. She has withdrawn/skipped/retired from 9 of the last 15 tournaments she has played/was supposed to play. And I’m not even taking bigish events like Dubai or Doha or Berlin into consideration. — Saurabh Chakrabarty (@Saurabh64408115)
So Barty, Osaka, Kenin, Williams Sis and Swiatek all withdrew from Montréal… Tough lost for the tournament… We knew it would be difficult after the Olympics but now…
