Emma Raducanu’s much-anticipated charity match with Naomi Osaka – scheduled for Tuesday in Melbourne – was cancelled after both players pulled out with injury concerns.
Both players recently made their long-awaited return to the tour – Osaka from the birth of her daughter Shai and Raducanu from triple surgery.
First, it was announced that the Japanese player was withdrawing from the charity match as a precaution, with her team playing down fears she could pull out of the main draw for the Australian Open, which takes place on Thursday.
Australian Donna Vekic was then lined up as a replacement before it was announced that Raducanu was also pulling out after being “a little sore”.
The former US Open champion is also expected to take her place in the Australian Open singles when the tournament gets under way on Sunday.
Qualifying for the event finally began on Tuesday after rain wreaked havoc on day one. Billy Harris, making his debut in Melbourne, recovered from a poor start to beat Dimitar Kuzmanov 0-6, 6-2, 6-2.
But Lily Miyazaki’s hopes of making the main event were denied 6-4, 7-6 by Melisa Ercan.
