Muchova wins Bad Homburg title as Osaka retires injured in final

Naomi Osaka retired from the Bad Homburg Open final on June 27 due to an ankle injury after trailing Karolina Muchova 6-1, 1-0 in the second set. The fourth-seeded Japanese player took a medical timeout during the first set but signaled she could not continue one game into the second set. Muchova, ranked 11th, won her third career WTA title and her first on grass.

The victory marks her first WTA 500 title and returns her to the top 10, with a projected rise to ninth in the rankings update on June 29. The final was moved forward by 2.5 hours to 11 a.m. local time to avoid peak heat, yet temperatures reached 36 degrees Celsius when play began.

Osaka, 28, reached her first grass-court final after dropping just five games in her prior four matches at the tournament. Osaka addressed the crowd during the trophy ceremony. "I just want to say thank you to everyone who came to watch the match," she said.

She added congratulations to Muchova. "You're one of the coolest girls on tour and it's always really fun to play you. " Muchova, 29, said the week could not have gone better except for the temperature.

"It couldn't have been a better week for me here in Bad Homburg, or maybe if it was 10 degrees less it could have been better," she said. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, has never advanced past the third round at Wimbledon, which begins June 29. She is seeded 14th and will face Elsa Jacquemot in the first round.

Muchova is seeded 10th.