Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has pulled out of next week’s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo due to a lower back injury. Former world number one Osaka, 27, has been plagued by fitness woes since retiring from her last-16 match at the China Open against eventual champion Coco Gauff earlier this month.
Osaka was to appear as a wildcard in Tokyo and has also withdrawn from this week’s Japan Open in Osaka. Tournament officials confirmed this, also, and said she was still recovering from the injury. It’s just the latest blow for the Japanese star, whose progress since returning to the tennis circuit in January was disrupted after giving birth to her daughter, Shai, in July 2023.
Her presence in the China Open was the first tournament of Osaka under the tutelage of French coach Patrick Mouratoglou, the man who used to work with Serena Williams. Since her return to the court, consistency has been out of reach, and two quarter-final appearances that have left everyone dumbfounded.
The top seed at the Pan Pacific Open is Olympic champion from China Zheng Qinwen, ranked seventh in the world. Other contenders include Russian Daria Kasatkina and Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia.
