Naomi Osaka revealed that she is considering not playing at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships after the WTA removed the Grand Slam's points.
Osaka is currently ranked outside the WTA's Top 30, and the Japanese player suffered another setback in her 2022 season at the Roland Garros. The four-time Grand Slam champion was stunned in the first round by young American player Amanda Anisimova, who defeated Osaka in straight sets.
It has been a topsy-turvy season for Osaka so far in 2022 after the two-time US Open winner returned to action in January for the first time since September 2021.
Osaka showed some promise with a semi-final run at the Melbourne 1 event and a final appearance in the Miami Open, but these results have been offset by early exits at the French Open, Madrid, and Indian Wells.
Following her defeat against Anisimova this week, Osaka revealed that she was struggling with a leg injury, which she initially sustained during the Madrid Open.
Such an injury concern leaves Osaka with doubts about grass court season, yet the 23-year-old also feels that she needs the points that won't be on offer at Wimbledon this year.
"I’m leaning towards not playing. I would say the decision is kind of affecting my mentality going into grass like I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to go there. I'm leaning more towards not playing given the current circumstances. I’m the type of player that gets motivated by seeing my ranking go up."
The ATP and WTA announced they would not award points to players who compete at Wimbledon in 2022. These two governing bodies of world tennis enforced the sanction after the All England Club event organizers decided to ban Russian and Belarusian players from the competition.
While the official main draw list for the men's and women's draws at Wimbledon has not been confirmed yet, there are some doubts about whether the world's best will compete. For instance, British player Cam Norrie believed that the lack of points would put players off.
Osaka also added her opinion when considering Wimbledon this year and she feels the decision was right. However, the former world number one is still unsure about whether she will compete due to the lack of points.
"The intention of this measure was good, but the execution is all over the place. I’m sure there will be a bit of back and forth with the whole point situation. Then I guess I’ll make my decision."
"I feel like if I play Wimbledon without points, it’s more like an exhibition."
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