Naomi Osaka pulls out of Stuttgart semis with injury

World number one Naomi Osaka has pulled out of Saturday’s semi-finals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart after failing to recover from an abdominal injury she suffered in her quarter-final match.

The top seed’s withdrawal gives her opponent Anett Kontaveit a walkover and the Estonian goes through to Sunday’s final where she will face the Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova.

“I’m really sorry I’m not able to compete for the semis today,” Osaka said. “I, unfortunately, got injured yesterday and I was waiting till today to see if I could get better.

“But unfortunately, I didn’t. I’m really sorry for everyone that came out and I hope to see you next year and I hope to play next year.”

The two-time Grand Slam champion had pulled off an epic comeback from 1-5 down in the final set on Friday when she beat Croatian Donna Vekic 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) despite struggling on the clay surface, making 45 unforced errors.

Saturday’s other semi-final went the distance as world number three Kvitova beat Kiki Bertens 7-6(3) 3-6 6-1 in an engrossing physical battle that clocked two hours.