Naomi Osaka Abruptly Retires From Auckland Final Right After Winning First Set
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Naomi Osaka enjoyed a great week at the 2025 ASB Classic in Auckland, but it had a very sad ending.
The Japanese player reached the WTA 250 final in Auckland after playing some inspired tennis throughout the week. She started by beating Lina Glushko, even overcoming a protest against her opponent.
Then, the four-time major winner dispatched Julia Grabher, Hailey Baptiste, and Alycia Parks to reach the final of the tournament. It was her first final in 1,008 days. The first one since the 2022 Miami Open.
Osaka could have won her first title since the 2021 Australian Open, and it was going well. She played one of the best sets of tennis she has played since returning to the WTA Tour as a mother.
The 27-year-old player hit five aces and served very well. She broke her opponent's serve at the start of the match to lead 2-1, and after using the second of her first three break points, she increased the lead to 4-1 and later 5-1.
Everything was going as planned for Osaka, who was closing up on the trophy. Although she then lost her serve and failed to use a set point on Tauson's serve, it didn't stop her from winning the first set of the match.
The two-time Australian Open winner served out the opening set without too many issues, winning it 6-4. It was a great start to the match for Osaka, but little did fans in Auckland know that it also marked the end of the match.
Surprisingly, after consulting the doctor for what seemed to be a lower back or an abdominal issue, Osaka chose to retire from the final match despite winning the first set of the match 6-4.
As a result, the 2025 ASB Classic produced one of the most unusual final scorelines, as Tauson won the title with a score of 4-6. Osaka was sorry about how the match ended, which she told the fans after the match.
"I just want to thank everyone for welcoming me to such a beautiful city. I had a lot of fun playing here, and I'm really sorry about how it ended. I hope you enjoyed the tennis that we did play, and I'm just really grateful to be here."
Tauson, on the other hand, had reasons to celebrate her victory, but the Danish player had mixed feelings, and she didn't really know how to feel about her triumph, struggling to be happy about it.
"I have to say that I'm really sorry about this final. Naomi was playing some great tennis today, so that was the worst final I ever played, for me, emotionally."
"I can't feel happy, and I'm just sad about what happened today, but of course, when I process this, I'm going to be super happy about this week. I played a lot of tennis on this court. I'm happy that I won, but not really."
