Montreal champion Victoria Mboko and runner-up Naomi Osaka have both withdrawn from the Cincinnati Open, which began on Thursday.
Mboko cited a left wrist injury that she sustained during her remarkable run as a wild card to her first Hologic WTA Tour title, while Osaka cited a change of schedule.
Cincinnati: Scores | Draws | Order of play
“I’m going to take care of my wrist,” Mboko told wtatennis.com in her Champions Corner interview on Thursday night. “Just do some prevention and recovery and prepare for what’s to come.”
Both Mboko and Osaka were unseeded in Cincinnati, and received performance byes into the second round due to reaching the Montreal final. This has created a special situation due to WTA Performance Bye protocol whereby two first-round matches have been created using the top four signed-in lucky losers from Cincinnati qualifying.
Consequently, Cristina Bucsa and Yuan Yue replace Mboko and her performance bye in the draw, with the winner to face No. 14 seed Diana Shnaider. Solana Sierra and Iva Jovic replace Osaka and her performance bye in the draw, with the winner to face No. 20 seed Linda Noskova. The Bucsa/Yuan and Sierra/Jovic matches have both been scheduled last on Friday’s order of play.