Naomi Osaka feels she played enough of quality tennis at this past WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal and decided to withdraw from Cincinnati so she could focus on resting and being fully ready for the US Open.
On Thursday, the Japanese fell just short of clinching her second consecutive win after losing to Victoria Mboko in the Montreal final.
When Osaka and Mboko played their Montreal final, the main action in Cincinnati had already started. While both Montreal finalists received a performance at the American WTA 1000 event, the 18-year-old Canadian announced her withdrawal moments after winning the Canadian Open - she was slated to play Diana Shnaider in the second round
Meanwhile, Osaka - who was due to play Linda Noskova in the second round - waited a bit longer before deciding not to play in Cincinnati. With both the Japanese and the Canadian pulling out of the American tournament, an interesting situation was created.
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Osaka didn't really sound too excited when asked about Cincinnati
After losing the Montreal final, the former world No. 1 indicated that she would play in Cincy. However, she didn't sound convincing or excited about it.
"Yeah, I mean, it's definitely going to be really interesting to go to Cincinnati. I don't know. I feel like I'm a little teeter-tottering today. I felt like I could have played better, but I'm not really sure which aspect. I think definitely my serve, but it's going to be interesting to see, yeah, what my next match is and how I'm going to play," the four-time Grand Slam champion said two days ago.
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Before Montreal, Osaka also played on the hard courts of Washington, where she won her opener before losing in the round-of-16. The 27-year-old has played nine matches on hard this summer and she should be well prepared for the US Open, which starts on August 24th.
