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Mboko, the 18-year-old who claimed her maiden title in Montreal, cited the wrist injury she suffered in the semis, while four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka blamed a schedule change.
Victoria Mboko, of Canada, hits a return to Naomi Osaka, of Japan, during final action at the National Bank Open women’s tennis tournament in Montreal, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko, who clinched the WTA Montreal Open title and Japanese star Naomi Osaka, the losing finalist at Montreal, pulled out of the Cincinnati Open on Friday.
Mboko, the 18-year-old who claimed her maiden title in Montreal, cited the wrist injury she suffered in the semi-finals, while former world number one, Osaka, blamed a schedule change.
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“I woke up this morning, and I actually had my wrist a little bit swollen from the fall,” she said.
“We quickly went to the hospital for an MRI and an X-ray before I came to the courts to practice.”
“I woke up this morning, and I actually had my wrist a little bit swollen from (Wednesday’s) fall,” she said.
“We quickly went to the hospital for an MRI and an X-ray before I came to the courts to practice.”
Cincinnati tournament officials announced that the pair had received byes into the second round due to their performances at the previous event.
The withdrawals allowed four lucky losers from qualifying to enter the first round of the main draw for the last major event before the US Open, which starts on August 25.
After defeating Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win the Montreal title, Mboko revealed that the swelling in her wrist had been severe enough on Thursday morning to necessitate an MRI exam before the evening final.
Mboko said she and her team eventually “got the green light that nothing too serious was going on in the wrist.”
But she said Thursday night that she expected to give Cincinnati a miss.
“It’s going to be interesting to see, yeah, what my next match is and how I’m going to play,” the four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka said.
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