The 2026 Australian Open was shaping up to be a great event for Naomi Osaka, but she won't turn it into her fifth major trophy after withdrawing from the tournament.
With her ascent back to the top, Osaka has become one of the dark horses in every event she enters. As a 16th seed, that was no different at this year's Australian Open, where she won her first two matches.
The Japanese player needed three sets to beat Antonia Ruzic and Sorana Cirstea. She bested both, despite a minor controversy in the match against Cirstea. The draw was nice to her, as she was supposed to take on Maddison Inglis, a player ranked 168th in the world, in her third-round match.
However, shortly before her match, which was scheduled as the last on the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, Osaka announced that she wouldn't continue at the 2026 Australian Open, withdrawing from the tournament.
The tournament organizers revealed the reason for her withdrawal was an abdominal injury, while the former WTA world No. 1 player updated her fans through her Instagram profile.
"I've had to make the difficult decision to withdraw to address something my body needs attention for after my last match. I was so excited to keep going, and this run meant the most to me, so having to stop here breaks my heart, but I can't risk doing any further damage, so I can get back on the court."
"Thanks for all the love and support... I'm so grateful everyone embraced me so much. And thank you to my whole team for always having my back and the tournament organizers."
Withdrawing from a Grand Slam tournament is never easy for a player, but this will most definitely feel like a missed chance for Osaka. Having to play against a player ranked outside the Top 150 in the third round of a major rarely happens, and her chances of making the second week were huge.
On top of that, at the time of her withdrawal, the match between the second-seeded Iga Swiatek and Anna Kalinskaya, the winner of which would have been her potential fourth-round opponent, was tied at one set all, which meant she could hope to avoid the world No. 2 in the following round.
Osaka will now rest and recover to be healthy for the Middle Eastern swing, where she is scheduled to compete in two WTA 1000 tournaments. She should first play at the Qatar Open in Doha and then at the Dubai Championships.
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