NAOMI OSAKA TAKES A BOW AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Written by on January 17, 2025

Written by: Nolwazi Zondi

The four-time Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka bowed out of the Australian Open due to an injury in the third round against Tokyo Olympic champion, Belinda Bencic, at 6-5 in the first set.

After what was seeming to be a promising comeback, having served her first semi-final since April, 2022 at the Auckland Classic, Osaka’s abdominal injury held her back once again.

The two-time Australian Open champion reached the 3rd round of a slam for the first time since the birth of her daughter Shai, in July 2023. After a long maternity leave, Osaka returned to tour a year ago feeling very driven and optimistic. ‘I put a lot of work in throughout last year and even though the results didn’t show it, I’m just continuing to try as hard as I can to see where it gets me,’ Osaka states.

Despite the first injury in Auckland just a few days before the Australian Open, the Grand Slam winner felt very confident about her health and had high expectations stating, “I’m pretty optimistic about playing my match. I mean, for sure I’m going to play my match,” said Osaka before the start of the tournament.

Unfortunately the odds were not in her favour. Not only did her recurring injury prohibit her progress but furthermore Osaka revealed that she and her boyfriend, Cordae, the father of her daughter, broke up.

But not all hope and love is lost. In a recent post on X and Instagram the champ stated, “Walking on the court today I saw a girl with a bouquet of sunflowers. It was then that I was again reminded that I will never be able to repay the love that is constantly shown. Thank you for inspiring me, thank you for believing in me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The sunflowers were a sentimental gesture as she wore sunflowers in her sweet revenge victory against Karolina Muchova which propelled Osaka to the third round.


Reader's opinions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *



Current track

Title

Artist