(Reuters) – Japan’s Naomi Osaka withdrew from her final against Victoria Azarenka in the Western & Southern Open in New York on Saturday because of a left hamstring injury.
“I’m sorry to have to withdraw today with an injury,” Osaka said. “I pulled my left hamstring yesterday in the second set tiebreak and it has not recovered overnight as I had hoped.
“This has been an emotional week and I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support.”
Osaka had initially pulled out of her semi-final in protest at racial injustice.
The former U.S. Open champion has a Japanese mother and Haitian father and has been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. Her decision followed protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday.
Osaka’s injury means Belarusian Azarenka wins her first title since 2016.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
