Naomi Osaka was cruising in her most recent match at the 2024 China Open, arriving a few games away from a victory, but her retirement ended the match, creating many questions.
Osaka's return to tennis was always going to be followed by many questions. The Japanese player was highly motivated to answer most of them this year, and while she did answer a few of them, many remain open.
A few more were added after her most recent match at the China Open. She was playing great tennis, winning three matches and then getting a chance to play Coco Gauff.
It wasn’t the easiest matchup for her because of Gauff's athleticism and defensive prowess, but she performed really well for much of the match. Osaka won the opening set and had a break in hand in the second set but then collapsed late to lose the second set.
She went from 4-3 to 4-6 in a few minutes, with the Japanese player dropping back-to-back service games. Something was clearly wrong and when she retired after that, it became clear it was an injury.
The nature of the injury wasn’t known at the time, but it seemed like a back problem, which she hadn't struggled with this year. For all the other troubles Osaka endured, she’s been physically healthy for most of her career.
Even so, a player retiring due to a physical problem is never a welcome sight. Everybody was looking towards Osaka for an update on her condition, hoping that it was nothing serious because she still had tournaments that she wanted to play this year.
As much as she’s improved, she’s not close to the level where she wants to be, and there is only one way to get there—by playing. Soon after her retirement, Osaka provided an update on social media, and it was good news because the injury or problem didn’t seem to be serious at all.
"Hi everyone, I just wanted to say I’m extremely thankful and happy to have played in Beijing. That being said, I feel like I owe a little backstory about today. So, I locked my back up during practice earlier and honestly wasn’t sure if I could even play, but I just wanted to try. Unfortunately, things just got progressively worse during the match. It was totally worth it, though, lol."
The nature of the problem seems to indicate that Osaka will be ready for the next big event, which will be played in Wuhan. It’s another WTA 1000 tournament, so it's a great chance for Osaka to get some more playing time, which she needs.
Her experience in Beijing has been good, but she can do even better. Osaka's goal for the rest of the year will likely be to better prepare for next year in the sense of putting herself in a position for a major breakout next year.
She’s capable of it, but a better ranking would give her easier draws. She was quite unlucky with a few of those this year. More tennis will give her more confidence, so it’s all connected.