Japan’s Sayaka Ishii has withdrawn from the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament due to an abdominal injury. The 19-year-old qualifier was the only Japanese player left in the singles draw.
Ishii had secured her first two wins on the WTA tour this week. She was set to face world No. 16 and sixth-seeded Russian player Diana Shnaider at Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum.
The young athlete is the daughter of Takuro Ishii, a former shortstop for the Yokohama BayStars. Takuro had 2,432 hits in his Nippon Professional Baseball career, ranking 11th on the all-time list. He currently serves as the hitting coach for the DeNA BayStars.
“I am very sad to have to withdraw,” Ishii said in a statement. “It has been my best tournament so far in my career.”
In the tournament, Ishii won her first match against compatriot Sara Saito, 6-1, 6-1. She had previously defeated Saito in the national championship final earlier this month.
Ranked No. 279 in the world, Ishii then overcame Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, ranked No. 148, in the second round with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. However, she called for a medical timeout early in the third set due to stomach discomfort.
“Unfortunately, I have a physical issue that I just don’t have time to heal,” Ishii stated. “Thank you all so much for your support, and I most definitely will be back.”
In other quarterfinal matches, third seed Daria Kasatkina from Russia lost to American wild card Sofia Kenin, 6-3, 6-4. Britain’s Katie Boulter defeated Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, 6-2, 6-1, setting up a semifinal match against Kenin on Saturday.
Shnaider will compete against either top seed Zheng Qinwen of China or Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the other semifinal.
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