MELBOURNE, Australia — Naomi Osaka, a two-time champion at the Australian Open, was forced to retire from her third-round match against Belinda Bencic due to an abdominal strain after losing the first set on Friday.
Osaka shared her struggles with the injury, noting, “I have a history of it; I would get an abdominal strain at least once a year since I was a teenager. I believe it stems from the explosiveness of my serve.” She revealed that the injury began during a tournament in Beijing, where she had to pull out of a match against Coco Gauff on October 1. “Unfortunately, this issue carried over at the start of this season,” she added.
This marked Osaka’s first major tournament appearance in the third round since 2022. She has missed significant time on the circuit due to mental health breaks and has been off the tour for some time while expecting the birth of her daughter, Shai, who arrived in July 2023.
Osaka kicked off her 2025 season strong, reaching the finals of a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, on January 5, but had to withdraw from the title match due to the same abdominal concern.
The situation worsened after her second-round victory over Karolina Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up, in Melbourne. “I guess it felt a bit inevitable, but my competitive spirit made me want to see it through,” said Osaka. She expressed hopes of recovering in time for upcoming events in Indian Wells and Miami next month.
During the match, a trainer attended to Osaka during a changeover while she held a 6-5 lead. After examining her, the trainer provided her with medication, and play continued. Just prior to the tiebreak, Osaka had a brief conversation with her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou.
After Bencic won the first set in a tiebreaker with a 7-6 (3) score—capitalizing on four late unforced errors from Osaka—the chair umpire called an end to the match after 57 minutes, citing injury as the reason.
The two athletes embraced before Osaka exited the court. She has previously won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, as well as the U.S. Open twice in 2018 and 2020.
Bencic, who won a gold medal in singles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, wished Osaka a speedy recovery, stating, “I hope she’ll be back soon to play the rest of the season.” In a show of solidarity as a fellow mother, Bencic drew a heart on the camera lens and wrote, “Get well soon Mama.”
Next up for Bencic is a fourth-round clash against either Coco Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, or Leylah Fernandez, a finalist at the 2021 U.S. Open, with their match set for later that evening.
“I’ll try to catch a bit of it if possible,” Bencic commented, “but I need to focus on cooling down and my recovery.” After returning to the sport last October following the birth of her first child, Bencic has yet to advance beyond the fourth round in her previous 11 attempts at the Australian Open, having faced a similar exit at that stage against Aryna Sabalenka last year.