Australia Open: Marin Cilic of Croatia withdraws due to Injury

• Marin Cilic  has withdrawn from the Australian Open due to a knee injury.
• He hurt his knee at the Tata Open Maharashtra last week.
• Naomi Osaka also withdrew from the major competition.

Due to a knee injury that halted his streak of seven consecutive Australian Open appearances, Marin Cilic of Croatia revealed on Wednesday that he would not be competing in the year’s opening Grand Slam.

The former world number three hurt his knee last week while warming up for his quarterfinal match at the Tata Open Maharashtra, where he was playing as the top seed.

Cilic, who won the US Open in 2014, is the newest player to be added to the list of absentees from the first Major of the year. The top-ranked male singles player in the world, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, earlier withdrew from the opening major of the 2023 season due to an injury sustained in training.

Seven-time Grand Slam singles winner Venus Williams of the United States also withdrew from the Australian Open a few hours after Alcaraz made his announcement.

Naomi Osaka, a former two-time winner from Japan, also withdrew from the major competition, although the tournament organisers made no mention of the cause of her decision.

“Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We will miss her at #AO2023. Dayana Yastremska moves into the main draw,” tournament organisers tweeted on Sunday.

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