Fourth seed Karolina Muchova has won the Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Bad Homburg, Germany, after Naomi Osaka withdrew with an ankle injury.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka was troubled by the injury in the first grass court final of her career as she lost the opening set 6-1, having taken a short break for treatment after losing the first three games.
The Japanese sixth seed battled on but was visibly troubled by the injury, eventually signalling she would be unable to continue one game into the second set.
A two-time winner on the hard courts of the US Open and the Australian Open, Osaka came into the match hoping to break through for a debut grass court title just days out from Wimbledon.
Muchova’s victory continues a strong season for the 29-year-old Czech, who won the Qatar Open in February and made it to the final of the Stuttgart WTA in April.
The victory will return Muchova to the top 10, with the Czech to climb to ninth when the rankings are updated on Monday.
Wimbledon begins on Monday June 29, with Muchova seeded 10th and Osaka 14th.
(The Whistler)
