World number one Naomi Osaka has remained upbeat despite withdrawing from her Stuttgart semi-final with Anett Kontaveit.
The top seed won a dramatic quarter-final with Donna Vekic yesterday after coming back from 5-1 down to beat the Croatian 6-3 4-6 7-6(4).
However the win came at a price as she has now had to withdraw from her semi-final with Anett Kontaveit due to an abdominal injury.
Speaking about the setback in her press conference Osaka remained upbeat about her week in Stuttgart, “I’m just happy that I won two matches,” Osaka explained.
“This was a really good boost for me because it let me know that even though I’m internalizing pain or feelings, I can still win matches.
“When I want to win a lot I tend to panic, but I feel like I found the calm space again. It think it’s really good and I’m glad I played this tournament.
“I feel like even though it’s bad that I got injured here, I’m happy that it’s at the beginning (of the clay season) and not Rome where it’s really close to French Open.”
Attention will now turn to getting healthy and trying to play in Madrid next weekend after securing her world number one spot in Stuttgart this week.
As for Kontaveit, her reward for battling against Victoria Azarenka last night is a place in the final where she will play either Kiki Bertens or Petra Kvitova.
Should Kontaveit win tomorrow she could be the 20th different winner in 20 events on the WTA tour this season.