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Naomi Osaka exited her third round Australian Open match early due to injury.
According to ESPN, an abdominal strain forced Osaka to end the match against Belinda Bencic on Friday.
“I kind of have a history of it, since I was a teenager. At least once a year, I’d get an ab strain. For me, I want to say it’s more the way my serve is — it’s quite explosive,” Osaka said, per ESPN. “Unfortunately, it carried on over to the beginning of this season.”
Bencic expressed concern for Osaka after her exit.
“At this moment, I just feel for Naomi. I saw her struggling a little bit in the end of the set,” Bencic said per Tennis.com. “Obviously it’s not the way you would like that match to end.”
Korean American Jessica Pegula lost her third round match to Olga Danilović in straight sets.
“Conditions were so slow. It was slower than a clay court, it felt like. The balls were so heavy, and that totally I think favored [Danilovic] for sure,” Pegula said, per ESPN.
She also credited her opponent’s “lefty kind of whippy forehand.”
