Osaka makes winning start as high-profile withdrawals blow women’s draw wide open

NAOMI OSAKA claimed her first victory at Wimbledon in six years on a day where the bottom half of the women’s draw was blown wide open after Aryna Sabalenka led a string of high-profile withdrawals.

Sabalenka and compatriot Victoria Azarenka pulled out within the space of a few hours, which followed Emma Raducanu’s scheduled round one opponent Ekaterina Alexandrova being forced to withdraw due to illness.

Raducanu eased through against lucky loser Renata Zarazua 7-6(0), 6-3 either side of fellow US

Open champions Osaka and Coco Gauff laying down markers with solid first-round victories to serve notice to the rest of the field.

France’s Varvara Gracheva had clinched the opening win at this year’s Championships with a 6-3, 6-1 success over Lesia Tsurenko at 12.11pm and she was quickly joined in round two by ninth seed Maria Sakkari and Zhu Lin.

Not long after those triumphs Sabalenka, one of the favourites to win the crown, revealed she had to withdraw due to an ongoing shoulder problem called teres major, which primarily affects her serve.

“Heartbroken to have to tell you all that I won’t be able to play the Championships this year,” double Australian Open winner Sabalenka posted on Instagram.

“I tried everything to get myself ready but unfortunately my shoulder is not cooperating. I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best, but my team explained that playing would only make things much worse.

“This tournament means so much to me and I promise I’ll be back stronger than ever next year.”

Azarenka, a two-time semifinalist at Wimbledon, followed due to her own shoulder injury, which could open the door for Osaka, who may have faced the Belarusian in round three.

“I wish I could say I enjoyed (the match) all the time,” Osaka said in an interview on court. “My heart was racing.”

“I feel like these are the type of matches that you kind of have to play just in order to ease into the tournament,” Osaka said after thanking the crowd for getting behind her. – The Independent/Reuters