The 28-year-old Daria Saville’s run at the Toray Pan Pacific Open 2022 came to an unfortunate end as she had to retire after playing just one game and four points in her first-round match against Naomi Osaka.
The first encounter on the WTA Tour between Daria Saville and Naomi Osaka ended in less than 14 minutes. The former lost the first game and the second game was interestingly poised at 30-30 when she fell down holding her left knee. The Australian tennis pro was in excruciating pain and she was screaming in agony. Her Japanese counterpart came quickly to check on her and had brought a towel as well in case Saville needed it.
A wheelchair was also brought in as a precaution. After the medical team gave her some necessary treatment, Saville got back up on her feet and it seemed that she was moving alright. However, she didn’t want to risk further aggravating the injury and decided to retire.
The 2-time Grand Slam champion hugged Saville after the Aussie star made her decision to retire known to the onlookers. This show of great sportswomanship was greeted with a huge round of applause from the crowd in attendance.
Saville took to Twitter and informed her fans that she will be going for an MRI scan on Wednesday. She wrote:
“Can we all pray it’s not ACL… 😭 getting MRI tomorrow”
Naomi Osaka progressed to the round of 16 and she will take on Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Tennis fans on Twitter sent in their messages of support for Daria Saville as she prepares to get her MRI scan done.
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