Wimbledon confirm Naomi Osaka absence as Eugenie Bouchard pulls out over lack of ranking points

Naomi Osaka and Eugenie Bouchard will not compete at Wimbledon 2022 as the row over ranking points rages on.

Former world No 1 Osaka – a four-time major winner – and Bouchard, who reached the women’s singles Championship match at SW19 in 2014, both cited the WTA’s decision to strip Wimbledon of its ranking points as reasons why they will not be competing at the world-famous tournament.

The WTA, along with the ATP, made the call after Wimbledon decided to ban Russian and Beleruian players from this year’s event due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, meaning players such as world No 5 Aryna Sabalenka are not able to play.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>But I guarantee they will remember who wins. @Wimbledon will never be an exhibition and will never feel like an exhibition. The end.

Both women are also struggling with injury, which has contributed to their decisions not to participate, with Osaka suffering an Achilles problem and Bouchard having shoulder surgery.

Osaka caused a stir with her recent comments about Wimbledon, labeling this year’s Championships an ‘exhibition’ – which prompted an angry Twitter rant from former men’s world No 1 and Great British hero Andy Murray.

‘I’m not sure why, but if I play Wimbledon without points, it’s more like an exhibition,’ the Japanese 24-year-old said. 

‘I know this isn’t true, right? But my brain just like feels that way. I just can’t go at it 100 per cent.’

Two-time men’s singles champion Murray then wrote on Twitter: ‘I follow golf very closely and have no idea how many ranking points the winner of The Masters gets.

‘Me and my friends love football and none of us know or care how many ranking points a team gets for winning the World Cup.

‘But I could tell you exactly who won the World