Naomi Osaka will not compete at the 2024 Japan Championships in Osaka, as she withdrew from the WTA 250 tournament.
In October, there are two WTA tournaments held in Japan, and Osaka hoped to attend both. The first one is the Japan Championships, also called the Kinoshita Group Japan Open for sponsorship reasons, which is a WTA 250 event running from October 14th to 20th.
The second tournament is the Japan Open in Tokyo, also called the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, which is a WTA 500 tournament held from October 21st to 27th.
The former World No. 1 player appeared on the entry list for both of these tournaments, but she doesn't anymore, as she chose to withdraw from the Japan Championships in Osaka.
The entry list for the tournament in Osaka features players such as Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Fernandez, and Amanda Anisimova, who will be among the favorites to win the trophy.
Unfortunately for the home fans, their player won't play. It comes after she competed at the 2024 China Open in Beijing, where she was having a good run, winning three matches in a row for the first time since the Italian Open in Rome this May.
She bested Lucia Bronzetti, Yulia Putintseva, and Katie Volynets before an injury stopped her in a match against the eventual champion, Coco Gauff. Osaka was well on her way to beat Gauff, leading 6-3, 4-3 with a break, but she was forced to retire after she lost the second set 4-6.
Despite her run not ending how she imagined, Osaka's run to the fourth round still significantly helped her in the WTA Rankings, as she moved up by 15 places to the World No. 58 position.
Following her retirement, she later provided an update on social media, suggesting that the issue likely wasn't a big problem, but that isn't so clear anymore after her withdrawal from the Japan Championships.
French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) informed about the withdrawal, also providing a short announcement obtained from the Japan Tennis Association.
"Due to injury, Naomi Osaka will not participate."
It's not clear what Osaka's physical state is at the moment, as she's yet to provide any other update, but fans will be hoping that this will be just a minor setback on her journey to becoming one of the best again.
Now, she will be hoping to recover in time for the Japan Open in Tokyo, which starts immediately after the Japan Championships concludes.
Previously, Osaka played in the final in Tokyo, but lost on both occasions. In 2016, Caroline Wozniacki beat her in the final match, 7-5, 6-3, and two years later, in 2018, Osaka lost the final match 4-6, 4-6 to Karolina Pliskova.
If she competes this year, she won't be among the top favorites, as she's still trying to find her top form, but with the home support and her history at the event, the tournament in Tokyo might be a perfect place for her breakthrough.
0 Comments