Naomi Osaka participation in this year’s Australian Open was cut short after she had to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury. The 27-year-old tennis champion was playing against Swiss player Belinda Bencic on Friday when she dropped out during the opening set of her third-round match, according to ESPN.
Osaka was leading 6-5 when a trainer examined her abdominal area and gave her a pill before the match resumed.
After 57 minutes into the match, the chair umpire announced it was over “due to injury.” Osaka and Bencic shared a hug on the court before exiting.
“Get well soon Mama,” Bencic wrote and drew a heart on the lens of a courtside TV camera.
“Hopefully she’ll be fine soon and be able to play the rest of the season,” Bencic added after the match, according to ESPN.
A sad ending to a great contest.
Naomi Osaka is forced to retire against Bencic.
We wish you a speedy recovery, and we can’t wait to see you back on the court soon, Naomi 💙#AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/HeWQA07Jg2
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2025
“Get well soon, mama” 💙
Belinda Bencic 🫶 Naomi Osaka#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/5A5iDOPfjM
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2025
Osaka shared that the injury has been a recurring issue since she was a teenager. In October, it came back when she was playing a match against Coco Gauff in Beijing. She also had to withdraw from the match at the time.
Osaka’s abdominal injury seemed to have persisted earlier this month. She sustained it during a WTA tournament in Auckland when she played against Denmark’s Clara Tauson. She also stopped playing the match then.
“Unfortunately, it carried on over to the beginning of this season,” Osaka added. “It was, I guess, a little inevitable, but I think the competitor in me just wanted to see it through to the end.”
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Osaka won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, as well as the US Open in 2018 and 2020. Her participation in this year’s Australian Open marked her first appearance in a major tournament since 2022. Osaka previously took mental health breaks from the sport and took a pause to give birth to her daughter Shai, born in July 2023.