Naomi Osaka definitely won’t be returning to action next week after pulling her name out of the Abu Dhabi Open alternates list.
After retiring injured at the Australian Open, the Japanese was signed up for next week’s WTA 500 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
However, since she didn’t make the main draw cut, she would have either needed to play in qualifying or hoped to sneak into the main draw with player withdrawals.
But since her name was removed from the alternates list, that means that she won’t be making her comeback from an abdominal injury in Abu Dhabi.
Last year, the former world No. 1 made her Abu Dhabi debut when she lost to Danielle Collins in the first round.
Osaka’s injury issues in early 2025
After heartbreakingly being forced to retire in the Auckland final, the four-time Grand Slam champion was able to compete at the Australian Open.
There, she won her opening two matches before retiring injured in her third-round match against Belinda Bencic.
“I mean, it was a little hectic trying to manage it because obviously my draw was quite tough,” Osaka said after her exit in Melbourne.
“But we were also doing everything we could. I was going to therapy every day and stuff like that into the night. So the days have been very long for me.”
In the same presser, the 27-year-old admitted that she knew retiring at some point at the Australian Open was “inevitable.”
“It was, I guess, a little inevitable, but I think the competitor in me just wanted to see it through to the end,” the two-time Australian Open winner said after the match.
“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.”
It will be interesting to see if Osaka gets to play any tournaments in the Middle East in February or she will wait for the Sunshine Double.
Tennis World USA