Naomi Osaka Retires From Quarterfinals of Cincinnati Open 2019 Due To Knee Injury

Published 08/16/2019, 5:31 PM EDT

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The American World Number 22, Sofia Kenin faced the World Number one, Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals of Cincinnati Open 2019. Prior to this season, Osaka did win the main draw match in Cincinnati, and today the Japanese had a sad day at the office, as she was forced to retire from the match at 4-6, 6-1, 0-2 due to her knee problems. 

Set One: 

Sonia Kenin was geared up since the inception of the set, with Naomi Osaka unable to find her grooves in the opening set, the American led by a break in the first set.

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Textbook Return!

The resilient American refused to give up and played a safe game in the entire set and by endeavoring on every point she wrapped up the set 6-4.

Dry Volley!

First Set Sofia!

Set Two: 

In the second set, Naomi Osaka converted her first break of serve in the seventh opportunity to take a 2-0 lead, but erroneous tennis in the next game gave Kenin three break chances. However, the American squandered all the chances and Naomi Osaka led by 3-0.

Rafa’s Lasso… ?

Kenin could scrape off the two break chances in the next game, but with Naomi stopping the playing two times and making witty challenges in the middle of the rallies aided her to lead by 4-0 in the second set.

By dropping just one point on her serve, Naomi Osaka led by 5-0 and slammed her eighth ace of the match. Kenin managed to escape a bagel in the second, and Osaka closed out the set with a backhand winner.

Naomi!

Third Set:

Osaka with better service consistency than Kenin had an upper hand in the decider. However, Kenin’s excellent defense gave her chances to break Osaka’s serve.

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via Imago

With the Japanese taking the game to deuce, on her serve she halted the play and availed a Medical Time Out for her left knee and her knee was heavily strapped. She finished the game and landed up losing it due to lack of movement eventually retired from the match since her move to her fullest.

Sad Ending 🙁

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Written by:

Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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