Naomi Osaka First Player Announced For New WTA Event At Queen's Club
News
The grass court season in June will include a new WTA grass-court event at the 2025 Queen's Club Championships, and it has already generated headlines by announcing Naomi Osaka as its first player.
Each year, the Queen's Club Championships has consistently been one of the season's most popular ATP 500 tournaments because of its superb entry lists and how well the players get treated in London.
It has always exclusively been an ATP tournament, but that will change this year. The first WTA edition of the Queen's Club Championships will start on June 9th, the day after the 2025 French Open ends.
Adding the WTA event at the Queen's Club led to the controversial removal of the WTA 250 event in Birmingham. Many disagreed with the move, arguing it could harm tennis's growth outside the United Kingdom's capital, London.
Nonetheless, having an ATP and WTA event at the Queen's Club should be exciting. The ATP iteration occurs the week after and has already confirmed former champion Carlos Alcaraz, who recently won the title in Rotterdam, for the tournament.
This year's women's tournament at the Queen's Club is also guaranteed to have at least one blockbuster name after Naomi Osaka was the first player confirmed on the entry list.
Since the start of her career, grass has not been Osaka's best surface. Her best performances at Wimbledon were two third-round appearances in 2017 and 2018. That may surprise some, given that the 27-year-old is a four-time Grand Slam champion.
However, the Japanese star's most significant success has been on hard courts, including her four Grand Slam titles. She has also never advanced past the third round of the French Open, which is played on clay.
Some might think Osaka's big serve and flat shots should be a good fit for grass, but she has struggled throughout her career with the low bounce and particular style of movement needed to succeed on the surface.
That relative lack of grasscourt success does not diminish what a global star Osaka is. Her presence at the tournament will undoubtedly boost ticket sales and generate more attention and excitement around the event.
Hopefully, Osaka will be fit for the WTA Queen's Club Championships. She is currently recovering from an abdominal injury that forced her to retire after the first set of her 2025 Australian Open third-round match against Belinda Bencic.
That same issue also caused Osaka to retire from the final at the ASB Classic in Auckland at the start of the season. She had played some of her best tennis in recent years in Auckland and at the Australian Open before the injury prevented her from possibly achieving even more.
Osaka had a challenging first year back in 2024 after being on maternity leave in 2023. There were signs that 2025 could be a great year for her if she can stay fit and healthy after her abdominal problem clears.
Tournament organizers will hope to have several top players on the entry list for the WTA Queen's Club Championships, but Osaka's announcement is a great start.
