Naomi Osaka's shocked withdrawal after heartbreaking admission
Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from next month's clay-court event in Stuttgart, choosing to delay herFrench Open preparations. Organisers announced the news on Wednesday, saying: "Naomi Osaka will now begin the European clay-court season a little later in May.” I'm GUTTED': Andy Murray's heartbreak over the 'freak' setback tournament in south-west Germany runs from the 17th to 25th of April and is set to go ahead behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the first clay-court events in Europe in the build-up to the French Open at Roland Garros, which is due to start on May 23rd.
Osaka won the first Grand Slam title of 2021 last month when she beat Jennifer Brady of the USA in the Australian Open final. Despite Osaka's absence, seven of the world's top 10 female players are still expected in Stuttgart, headed by World No.1 Ash Barty. As well as defending champion Petra Kvitova, top-10 stars Simona Halep, Sofia Kenin, Elina Svitolina, Aryna Sabalenka, and 2018 Stuttgart winner Karolina Pliskova are also expected to be Osaka's withdrawal came just hours after she hinted at tweaking her clay-court schedule while speaking at the Miami Open.
The World No.1 made the sad admission that she often gets homesick while traveling around the world, admitting that's the reason she doesn't play as many tournaments as her rivals."Well, for me, I'm not really sure what a normal schedule is, but I've never thought of myself as the player that would play week-in and week-out," Osaka told reporters in Miami."I personally get homesick quite often, and it makes me quite sad sometimes. "I would like to travel somewhere and focus on that tournament."
World No.2 will be looking to gain some ground on Barty at the Miami Open this week. The Australian will need to win the tournament to defend her points from claiming the title in 2019. Otherwise, Osaka will narrow the gap in the rankings.
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