[Frankie99]

She withdrew not because of afraid facing SST, it's because she's injured. Left achilles this time. Similar injury she suffered two years ago, albeit at that time was on her right thigh, instead of her left leg

It happens for so many years ago, the prize money gap between the men's (ATP) and the women's (WTA) side has improved somewhat, the gap would have bigger had not do to BJK not winning the in famous battle of the sex match, which she won in straight sets. So the prize money issues is not new, it happens long before the open era

Did you know you can quote more than onces on 1 post ?
Anyway it looks like she has an ankle injury, as the article says.
If she is really badly injured or if she is too scared to play is only speculation.
We don't know that so I give her the benefit of the doubt. When she said she is too injured to play then she is.

 

[AwonderfulKiwi]

To be fair, this is not the first Naomi got injured. She suffered achilles injury during the lead up to 2020 Us Open, albeit it's on her right thigh,

What are you talking about? The Achilles tendon is nowhere near anybody's thigh.

 

[crazillo]

I don't question Naomi's injury because you could see it last week. However her body is just way too fragile. If she truly wants to improve on this surface, only playing the big tournaments in Rome and Madrid isn't going to cut it, and getting hurt after one match is not a good sign.

 

[Matmagix]

She's got PSSTTSD - that's what

 

[KardedKing]

I know that SST is a nightmare to play on red clay, especially for someone with Naomi's basic power game, but I don't think I have ever seen a multiple-time major champion run away from the challenge of a tennis match against a difficult opponent. That is so prideless.