• Osaka made no comments regarding her resignation.
• She has experienced numerous injury-related problems.
• She was scheduled to play Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round.

Osaka, a previous Australian Open champion, made no comments regarding her resignation. She has experienced numerous injury-related problems.

Just over a week before the start of the tournament, Naomi Osaka withdrew from the Australian Open on Saturday.

Osaka, 25, didn’t provide an explanation in a statement. Last year, she suddenly withdrew owing to an injury. She pulled out of Wimbledon in June due to an Achilles’ heel injury, and she missed the Toray Pan Pacific Open in September due to sickness.

When she told media about the situation during the September tournament, she was scheduled to play Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round, according to the World Tennis Association.

The opportunity to compete at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in front of the incredible Japanese fans, according to Osaka, is an honour. “I wish I could have played today, but my body won’t allow it. This tournament has been and always will be special to me. I appreciate all of your help this week, and I’ll see you again in a year.”

Osaka, who was once ranked No. 1 by the WTA, won both the Australian and United States Opens twice between 2018 and 2021. She gained notoriety in May 2021 when she declared she wouldn’t play in the French Open due to worry of post-match press interviews.

Osaka at the time stated, “I would never downplay mental health or use the phrase carelessly. Since the U.S. Open in 2018, I have actually experienced protracted periods of despair, and I have found it extremely difficult to deal with that.

Osaka claimed in an editorial for Time magazine that while she gets along well with the media, she thinks the structure of news conferences is stale. She stated that she prefers to communicate with reporters more on a “peer to peer” basis.
She wrote, “I expressed that I intended to practise self-care and preservation of my mental health by skipping press conferences at Roland Garros. “I maintain that. Athletes are people too. (The French Open is held at Roland Garros Stadium.)

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