SYDNEY – Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka will not be in Melbourne this year. Venus Williams has also withdrawn after sustaining an injury.
Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Williams, 42, sustained the injury this week at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
After defeating Katie Volynets in the first round in Auckland for her first win since Wimbledon in 2021, Williams lost in three sets to China’s Zhu Lin.
The Australian Open begins January 16 in Melbourne.
Williams is a two-time finalist at the Australian Open (2003, 2017), which begins Jan. 16. The tournament announced her withdrawal but did not provide a specific injury, Reuters reported.
Williams, a wild card entry, opened 2023 with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over qualifier Katie Volynets of the United States. She lost in the second round to China’s Lin Zhu 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Williams reached the Australian Open singles final in 2003 and 2017; in both outings, she was defeated by her sister Serena.
She also reached the semi-finals in 2001, falling to Switzerland’s Martina Hingis in straight sets.
In doubles play, Williams has won the major four times, most recently in 2010. She won a mixed doubles title with American Justin Gimelstob in 1998.
A champion in Melbourne in 2019 and 2021, Osaka has not played a competitive match since the US Open last fall. Last year, the former No.1 advanced to the third round, where she bowed out to Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).
With Osaka’s withdrawal, Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska moves into the main draw.
“Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We will miss her at AO2023,” the tournament said on Twitter according to AFP. No reason for the Japanese star’s withdrawal was given.
The four-time Grand Slam winner has previously talked about struggles with her mental health and spent all of 2022 outside the top 10, enduring first-round defeats at both the French and US Opens. She withdrew from Wimbledon with an Achilles’ injury.
Speaking at the Pan Pacific Open in September, she admitted she had gone through “more down than up” in 2022.
“This year has been not the best year for me but I’ve learned a lot about myself,” she said.
“Life is ups and downs, and this year was more down than up, but overall I’m pretty happy with where I am now.”
Elsewhere, Taylor Fritz edged Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) to push Team United States into the United Cup championship match against Team Italy in Sydney, Australia.
Fritz’s hard-fought victory gave the US an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the Final Four of the inaugural 18-country, mixed-team competition.
Fritz weathered Hurkacz’s 17 aces by winning 88 per cent of his own first-service points (44 of 50) in a match where neither player’s serve was broken.
The Americans completed the 5-0 sweep with Madison Keys beating Magda Linette 6-4, 6-2 and Fritz and Jessica Pegula rallying to defeat Lukasz Kubot and Alicja Rosolska 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-6 in mixed doubles.
The Italians advanced to the final with a 4-1 victory against Team Greece. Lucia Bronzetti clinched the win with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Valentini Grammatikopoulou.
Elsewhere, World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz has pulled out of the 2023 Australian Open due to injury.
The US Open champion hasn’t played competitively since November 4, when he suffered an abdominal injury at the Paris Masters.
He was hoping to recover in time for the first Grand Slam of the new season but suffered a further setback with an off-season hamstring injury.
“When I was at my best in preseason I picked up an injury through a chance, unnatural movement in training,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I’d worked so hard to get to my best level for Australia but unfortunately I won’t be able to play the exhibition event or the Australian Open.
“It’s tough, but I have to be optimistic, recover and look forward. See you in 2024 Australian Open.”
Alcaraz’s injury setback means since becoming world No. 1 after the US Open he has missed the following two biggest tournaments – the Nitto ATP Finals and the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia fought through a left leg injury and defeated No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final in Adelaide, Australia.
Djokovic, who used a medical timeout for treatment on his hamstring, saved all three break points he faced in the battle of former World No. 1 players.
The unseeded Korda was leading Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6 (5), 1-0 when Nishioka was forced to retire due to a right hip injury. Djokovic, 35, and Korda, 22, are meeting for the first time.
No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will face Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the women’s final.
Sabalenka cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 winner against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu. Noskova, an 18-year-old qualifier, knocked off top-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Jabeur took a medical timeout in the second set for a lower-back injury.
