Next week's Japan Open has suffered a significant blow after home hero Naomi Osaka withdrew due to an ongoing injury.
Osaka was scheduled to play back-to-back tournaments in her home country, but she also pulled out of the ongoing Japan Championships in Osaka with the same physical problem.
Having an injury so late in the season and at a time of the year that is important for Osaka is undoubtedly frustrating and compounds what has been a mixed return to the sport.
Osaka made her comeback to professional tennis at the start of the year after being away on maternity leave in 2023. There have been some encouraging signs throughout 2024 for the 27-year-old.
Since returning, she has defeated players such as Ons Jabeur, Marta Kostyuk, Liudmila Samsonova, Jelena Ostapenko, and Caroline Garcia, proving how good her powerful brand of tennis remains at its best.
Osaka's best performance of 2024 was undoubtedly against Iga Swiatek at the French Open. The Japanese star produced an extraordinary level to overwhelm the four-time champion at Roland-Garros for most of the match.
A stunning upset was on the cards when she held a match point, but Osaka could not take the opportunity. From there, Swiatek fought back against the odds and sealed an incredible 7-6, 1-6, 7-5 triumph.
Osaka would undoubtedly challenge for the biggest titles again if she played near that level regularly, but the four-time Grand Slam winner has been inconsistent throughout the season, struggling to put consecutive good performances together.
The former world No. 1 is also prone to sudden lapses during matches. An example was being 5-4 40-0 up in the second set against Karolina Muchova at the US Open but losing that set and the match.
Despite those inconsistencies, it seemed like the China Open could be a great week for Osaka. After beating Lucia Bronzetti, Yulia Putintseva, and Katie Volynets, she took the opening set against Coco Gauff in the round of 16.
Osaka played outstandingly in the opening set, and even someone of Gauff's quality struggled. The American's forehand, especially, was peppered to devastating effect in the rallies.
Unfortunately, the two-time Grand Slam champion became hampered by a back injury in the second set. After Gauff won it 6-4, Osaka decided to retire to avoid making the issue any worse.
Initially, Osaka was hopeful that the injury would not be too severe and seemed confident that she would be fit and ready for the two tournaments taking place in Japan this week and next week.
However, Osaka subsequently revealed the injury was worse than she first thought. At that point, the 26-year-old admitted to being doubtful about her chances of being able to play at the Japan Open.
The Japan Times has now reported that Osaka will miss the final WTA-500 tournament in Tokyo. This is due to the same back injury that also led to her withdrawal from the Japan Championships.
Osaka is on the Hong Kong Open entry list the following week and also committed to representing Japan at the Billie Jean King Cup finals next month, meaning she will likely keep working to get herself fit before the end of the season.
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