The Australian Open is ready to be robbed of one other famous person drawcard as officers scramble to find out the taking part in standing – and precise whereabouts – of two-time girls’s champion Naomi Osaka.
Without a match in 4 months, Osaka appears all however sure to overlook the Melbourne main having solely simply arrived again to her US base this week following a jaunt by Europe along with her rapper boyfriend Cordae.
In an Instagram submit titled “Europe”, the previous world No.1 was in France final week along with her US beau, posting a photograph sitting collectively in entrance of the Mona Lisa, whereas she additionally gave the impression to be at a live performance.
Champion at Melbourne Park in 2019 and 2021, Osaka is outwardly again in Los Angeles after being tagged in a photograph from a pilates studio in suburban LA however has proven no indicators of getting ready for the Open.
Disgruntled followers have additionally taken to social media to precise their dismay, a quantity replying to the submit and seemingly blaming Osaka’s boyfriend for her not taking part in tennis.
While Osaka stays on the official Australian Open entry checklist, the 25-year-old is not right down to play in Adelaide or Hobart subsequent week.
Officials seem quietly resigned to Osaka not competing at Melbourne Park from January 16-29 as issues develop that the four-time grand slam champion could not return to the courtroom in any respect.
Osaka took a psychological well being break after sitting out the 2021 French Open and later revealed she’d been fighting despair and anxiousness for a number of years.
Even if she did contest the Open, it is unimaginable to think about Osaka significantly difficult for a 3rd AO title.
The Japanese famous person hasn’t performed since withdrawing from the second spherical in Tokyo final September with stomach pains and has gained just one accomplished match since final May.
The former world No.1 crashed out within the first spherical of her earlier three occasions, together with the US Open, which she has additionally gained the title twice.
Osaka’s final victory was an abbreviated one to say the least, coming after only one sport in opposition to Daria Saville when the Australian suffered a torn ACL in Tokyo.
If and when Osaka withdraws from the season-opening slam, she’s going to be part of an enormous void of greats and ex-world No.1s not taking part in the 2023 Australian Open.
Australian drought breaker Ash Barty will not defend her girls’s crown following her shock retirement in March, whereas legends Serena Williams, a seven-times Open champion, and six-times males’s winner Roger Federer additionally stop the sport final 12 months.
At least nine-times males’s champion Novak Djokovic is again after lacking the 2022 version after having his Australian visa revoked for not being vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19.
The Open draw will happen subsequent Thursday, with Carlos Alcaraz the lads’s prime seed forward of his Spanish compatriot and defending champion Rafael Nadal.
Polish world No.1 Iga Swiatek is the ladies’s prime seed.
