Naomi Osaka Pulls Out of WTA Finals 2019 Due to a Shoulder Injury

World No.3 Naomi Osaka withdraws from the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen 2019 due to a right shoulder injury, hours before her second round-robin match against the No.1 seed Ashleigh Barty on Tuesday.

“I’m disappointed to have to withdraw from the Finals,” Osaka said after pulling out of the WTA Finals 2019 on Tuesday.

“It has been a great event in Shenzhen, and it’s the biggest WTA event of the year. This is not how I wanted to end this tournament or my season. I look forward to getting healthy and hope to be back here in Shenzhen next year,”  She further added.

Two-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka began her 2019 WTA Finals campaign with a 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-4 win over No.6 Petra Kvitova on Sunday.

The Japanese star will be replaced by World No.10 Kiki Bertens in the Red Group. Kiki Bertens made her debut at the WTA Finals in the previous edition, where she reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Elina Svitolina. Bertens also has the chance to qualify for the semifinals this year.

However, she has to win both of his matches in order to qualify as if Bertens were to finish with an equal number of match wins but fewer matches played, the other player would advance to the last four.

Last year, Naomi Osaka failed to win any of her three round-robin matches at the WTA Finals. After losing the first two matches, Osaka had retired from her match against Kiki Bertens due to a hamstring injury in the last edition of the WTA Finals.

The Australian Open champion was on an 11-match winning streak, having gone undefeated since her round of 16 defeat against Belinda Bencic at the US Open 2019, last month.