Naomi Osaka could be a doubt for Wimbledon after the Japanese player was forced to retire during her second-round match at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham with an abdominal injury.
The 20-year-old has had a superb year, climbing to 18 in the rankings and winning the prestigious title in Indian Wells, and will be a player to watch out for at the All England Club provided she can recover in time.
Osaka appeared fine to start with against qualifier Dalila Jakupovic but began to struggle towards the end of the first set. After losing it 6-3, Osaka had treatment on court but decided she could not continue, sending Jakupovic through to her first quarter-final at a WTA Premier event.
There she will play Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova, who again showed her grass-court pedigree in coming from a set down to defeat Kristina Mladenovic 3-6 6-2 6-1.
Second seed Elina Svitolina had only won one match in three previous appearances at Edgbaston Priory but reached the quarter-finals for the first time with a 6-4 6-2 victory over France’s Alize Cornet.
“Finally I made it through,” said Svitolina, who needed a wild card to get into the tournament after forgetting to enter. “I’m happy the way I played today, the two matches here. I’m working hard to feel comfortable.”
In the last eight the Ukrainian will face one of the breakthrough stars of 2018, Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu, who defeated Petra Martic 4-6 6-3 6-2. The 30-year-old was ranked outside the top 200 a year ago and failed to qualify for Wimbledon but will be seeded at the championships this time.
PA
