Daria Saville badly injured her knee just 14 minutes into her Tokyo first round match and Naomi Osaka rushed to the Australian to check out on her as soon as she went down in considerable pain.
Not good for Aussie Daria Saville in the tennis – has retired hurt after suffering left knee injury. Has a past history of ACL injury & unfortunately the video brings significant concern for a recurrence, with foot planting + shifting of lower leg bone. Fingers crossed for her pic.twitter.com/Em5kq6u0gw
ā NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) September 20, 2022
Naomi Osaka ran to her opponent Daria Saville as she got injured. Probably the nice soul in the world and my favorite athlete ever @naomiosaka pic.twitter.com/W8GEW69uJt
ā Naoto (@Tokyo_RipCity12) September 20, 2022
Saville was eventually able to get on her feet, but she didn’t hesitate to retire the match.
After the match, Saville took to Twitter, where she expressed hope that it’s not a torn ACL injury.
“Can we all pray itās not ACL, getting MRI tomorrow,” Saville tweeted.
Can we all pray itās not ACLā¦ š getting MRI tomorrow
ā Daria Saville (@Daria_gav) September 20, 2022
In another tweet; Saville wrote: “Iām seriously in disbelief, what the actual f happened, I am not even sad Iām just shocked.”
Iām seriously in disbeliefā¦ what the actual f happenedā¦ I am not even sad Iām just shocked
ā Daria Saville (@Daria_gav) September 20, 2022
Saville made a successful return from an Achilles surgery
At the start of this season, Saville returned from an Achilles surgery.
Saville, who was well outside the top-500 at the start of this season, is now the 55th-ranked player in the world.
If the MRI shows torn ACL, Saville would again be sidelined for a longer period of time.
Also, Saville was playing her first tournament since the US Open.
After losing in the US Open first round, Saville called for the public to change their perception of Grand Slams.
“Why do Slams feel so different to any other tournaments? Grand Slams are chaotic. Itās busy, it is so freaking chaotic in the players areas, and 90% of these people never travel to any other tournament but because itās a Slam theyāve come to ‘support’ their players. Friends, family, agents. I donāt know about other players but it makes me feel like I owe them a win. I just want to do my job, I donāt come to your job to āsupportā you. I like to be focused on the progress, but all that goes out the window during the Slam. Because every other tournament you ‘prepare’ for the Slam. My thinking becomes so toxic and all I wanna do is win and I feel like everyone around me wants me to win. Itās not true but it feels like no one cares if I get better. Just win,” Saville wrote on Instagram.