No reason was given for the 25-year-old Japanese player’s retirement, with organizers simply tweeting, “He will be missed at AO2023.”
In his absence, Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine was promoted to the main draw in Melbourne.
Osaka hasn’t played a competitive match since September, and reports last week indicated that despite being on the official entry list, the Australian Tennis Federation has been unable to find out where it had found it.
Her social media accounts indicated that she traveled to Europe with her boyfriend, American rapper Cordae.
many absent
His absence is another blow for the major of the antipodes after the package of the world number 1, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, on Friday, due to an injury to his right leg.
There will also be no American Venus Williams who was injured last week at the WTA tournament in Auckland and returned the wild card she liked.
Open organizers were already reeling from the withdrawals last year of defending champion Ashleigh Barty and legends Serena Williams and Roger Federer.
Former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep of Romania is also absent after being provisionally suspended in October for taking the banned substance roxadustat.
The return of Djokovic
But Novak Djokovic, a nine-time winner in Melbourne, is back after being banned last year after cheating on his vaccination status.
Also attending will be Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal, who won the 2022 title in Djokovic’s absence.
Champions in Melbourne in 2019 and 2021, Osaka haven’t played a competitive game since withdrawing from a tournament in Tokyo in September due to abdominal pain and plummeted to 42nd in the world rankings.
The four-time Grand Slam winner has already opened up about her mental health issues and spent all of 2022 outside the top 10, suffering first-round defeats at Roland Garros and the US Open. She withdrew from Wimbledon due to an Achilles heel injury.
Speaking at the Pan Pacific Open in September, the player admitted he’s been through “more downs than ups” in 2022.
