Osaka: "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"
Tuesday 29 October 2019 15:36, UK
Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the WTA Finals in Shenzhen due to an injury to her right shoulder.
Osaka beat Petra Kvitova 7-6 4-6 6-4 in her first match on Sunday and was due to face world No 1 Ashleigh Barty on Tuesday.
However, the Japanese world No 3 has withdrawn from the tournament and will be replaced in the Red Group by Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.
"I'm disappointed to have to withdraw from the finals," said Osaka.
"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."
Osaka made her first appearance at the WTA Finals last year after winning the US Open but lost her first two matches before pulling out midway through an encounter with Bertens due to an injury.
This time around, a recurrence of a shoulder issue which first surfaced during the China Open, meant that the 23-year-old could not continue.
"I did this in the finals of Beijing," Osaka said.
"I didn't serve for a while when I was in Japan. I just started serving the last two days. Felt better, came here, then I played my match.
"I felt it immediately. When I woke up the day after, it was like throbbing and stuff. I didn't serve at all yesterday and hit for like five minutes."
Despite ending the season on a frustrating note, Osaka leaves Shenzhen reflecting positively on the year as a whole.
She won the Australian Open in January and was ranked world No 1 before putting a drop in form behind her with tournament wins at the Pan Pacific Open in Japan and at the China Open.
"Surprisingly, I think this year is better than last year, even though I cried way more this year than I did last year," she said.
"I also think that's a lesson that I learned. It's just like you have the opportunity to change the things that are happening to you, even though it might not seem like it at the moment. I definitely think that this year was somehow better."
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