Naomi Osaka’s return to Grand Slam competition ended prematurely on Friday, as the two-time Australian Open champion was forced to retire from her third-round match against Belinda Bencic due to a strained abdominal muscle. Osaka had dropped the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3), before informing the chair umpire she could no longer continue.
“It was, I guess, a little inevitable, but I think the competitor in me just wanted to see it through to the end,” Osaka said after the match, via ESPN News Services. “I just hope that I can figure it out and figure out how to get healthy in time” for upcoming tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami in March.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1, explained that the injury originated in October during a match in Beijing against Coco Gauff and worsened following her second-round win in Melbourne over Karolina Muchova. Osaka had also retired from the final of a tournament in Auckland earlier this month due to the same issue.
“I kind of have a history of it, since I was a teenager. At least once a year, I’d get an ab strain. For me, I want to say it’s more the way my serve is — it’s quite explosive,” she said.
Naomi Osaka receives support from other tennis players





The 2025 Australian Open marked Osaka’s first appearance in the third round of a major tournament since 2022, following a two-year stretch where she stepped away from the sport for mental health reasons and to give birth to her daughter, Shai, in July 2023.
During Friday’s match, Osaka called for a trainer at 6-5 in the first set to assess her abdominal area and was given medication before continuing. However, her movement and consistency were visibly impacted, as she committed a series of unforced errors in the tiebreaker.
Bencic, who is also a mother and a former Olympic gold medalist, expressed support for Osaka.
“Hopefully she’ll be fine soon and be able to play the rest of the season,” Bencic said. She wrote “Get well soon Mama” on a courtside TV camera after the match.
The Swiss player advances to the fourth round, where she will face Gauff.