WTA: Back problems: US Open winner Osaka cancels participation in Hong Kong

US Open winner Naomi Osaka has cancelled her participation in the WTA tournament in Hong Kong.

This was announced by the tournament organizers on Sunday. Osaka’s lower back was treated in the Beijing semi-final on Saturday, while the stricken 20-year-old lost 4-6, 4-6 to Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been playing with back pain all week. The doctors advised me to take a break so that things wouldn’t get any worse,” Osaka was quoted in the organizers’ announcement. The 20-year-old has already qualified for the WTA final in Singapore (from 21 October).

In addition to Osaka, Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko and Ekaterina Makarova from Russia have also cancelled their participation in the Prudential Hong Kong Open. The Lucky Losers Julia Glushko (Israel), Caroline Dolehide (USA) and Viktoriya Tomova (Bulgaria) moved into the main field of the 750,000 dollar hard court tournament.