Defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from her semifinal match at Melbourne Summer Set 1 2022 – a WTA tournament – with an abdominal injury, allowing her opponent Veronika Kudermetova to advance to the final on a walkover.

“I had a lot of fun playing here in Melbourne. Unfortunately, I have an abdominal injury which I need to rest and prepare for the Australian Open,” Osaka said in a statement issued by Tennis Australia. The Australian Open begins on January 17.

Earlier, American Amanda Anisimova advanced to her first final since 2019 with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Daria Kasatkina in the WTA’s Summer Set 2 event on Saturday at Rod Laver Arena.

Anisimova will play either fellow American Ann Li or Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. They play their semifinal later Saturday.

In another semifinal play at the Summer Set 1 event, Simona Halep defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2. Halep will face Kudermetova on Sunday.

In the semifinals of an ATP tournament at Melbourne Park, Rafael Nadal faced Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori and Maxime Cressy played Grigor Dimitrov.

At the Adelaide International, top-ranked and Wimbledon champion Ash Barty was scheduled to play her night semifinal against former French Open winner Iga Swiatek.

The Adelaide and Melbourne tournaments are among six tune-up events being staged in Australia this week ahead of the season-opening Australian Open 2022 at Melbourne Park.