A strategic rest: Victoria Mboko and Naomi Osaka withdraw from Cincinnati Open

Canadian Open champion Victoria Mboko and runner-up Naomi Osaka have decided to withdraw from the Cincinnati Open main draw after a busy week with no days of rest in between. Both players totaled seven matches over the last 10 days, making the decision to take a break ahead of the Cincinnati Open.

The Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, two WTA 1000 tournaments, took on a new format with 96-player draws, extending the duration of both tournaments to a total of 21 days combined. Cincinnati started its first-round matches on the same day as the Montreal final.

While the 32 seeded players in Cincinnati are waiting to debut starting Saturday, the unseeded players began taking the court on the same day that Osaka and Mboko were scheduled to play the final in Montreal. Not many would have expected the final to feature two unseeded players, which complicated the schedule for both.

By a rule predetermined by the WTA, both players, as unseeded competitors still in the tournament, were entitled to a first-round bye, so they had Thursday and Friday off. However, they were scheduled to return to the court on Saturday, having to travel a distance of more than 800 miles (1,300 km), in addition to having little time to adapt to the conditions in the USA.

Mboko and Osaka skip Cincinnati 

The surprise arrival of Naomi Osaka and Victoria Mboko to the Canadian Open final posed challenges for the Cincinnati draw. Both had the right to a first-round bye, so Mboko was entered to face Diana Shnaider (14th seed) this Saturday, while Osaka was set to do the same against Linda Noskova (20th seed).

However, the withdrawal of both players opened up spots for unexpected last-minute matches in the first round of Cincinnati this Friday. On Mboko's side, her spot was replaced by a lucky loser match between Yue Yuan and Cristina Bucsa. For Osaka, lucky losers Iva Kovic and Solana Sierra will face each other for a spot in the second round and the chance to face Noskova.

The decision seemed logical considering the long journey ahead and the short time they would have to adapt to the change in conditions. Both Osaka and Mboko finished a week with six consecutive wins to reach the final, where the 18-year-old Canadian secured the victory and her first professional title.

Cincinnati would be a long tournament, where they again could have had to play up to six matches on a potential path to the final over the next week. With the US Open ahead as the main goal of this part of the season, Osaka and Mboko's decision aims to physically protect themselves to recover well from a draining week.

The Montreal final was notable for being the first WTA 1000 final to be played without a top-40 player. It was also the sixth final since 2009 to be played between two unseeded players—and the second this year after Amanda Anisimova's victory over Jelena Ostapenko in Doha this past February.

Additionally, it was only the third time a Canadian Open final did not feature at least one seeded player competing for the title, with the previous times being in 1977 and 1979.

The title won by Mboko allowed her to make a notable jump to world No. 24 in the WTA Rankings, while Osaka finished just one spot behind at No. 25. Both players have now secured a seeded spot at the US Open, although it remains to be seen if they will decide to play one final tournament beforehand or if they will take the three weeks off completely.

The only possibility of seeing either of them on the court before the last Grand Slam of the year would be if they received a wildcard in the WTA 250 Cleveland Open or the WTA 500 Monterrey Open, both to be held the week before the start of the US Open.