Naomi Osaka has returned to action at the BNP Paribas Open, a WTA 1000 tournament taking place from March 4 to 15 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The Japanese star, competing as the 16th seed, has recently shared her views on returning to the court after injuries that kept her out of the entire Middle East Swing, expressing her gratitude to be back, among other things.
Naomi Osaka Shares Relief and Gratitude on Returning to the Court After Dealing With Injuries
The World No. 16 last competed at the Australian Open, where she defeated former World No. 65 Antonia Ružić in the first round and then defeated former World No. 21 Sorana Cîrstea in the second round. She was set to clash against Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis in the third, but unfortunately withdrew ahead of her match due to a left abdominal injury.
Osaka later clarified the nature of the injury she was dealing with, stating it was a recurring injury, as per Tennis Australia, the governing body for the sport in Australia. She also revealed that she played her match against Cîrstea with lingering pain, and it worsened during her practice session.
Furthermore, Osaka acknowledged that her body has undergone multifaceted changes, including physical and physiological changes, after motherhood, and will undergo medical tests to determine their extent. Now, the star has returned to the action with the Indian Wells Open, where she defeated Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva in the round of 64 with a concluding score of 7-5, 6-2.
During her post-match press conference, she shared, considering the injuries she had to deal with, adding, “Yeah, I mean, for me it wasn’t, like, too positive. I was really disappointed, because it’s something that I have done to myself before, and I feel like every year I go through that specific injury. Every year I can kind of, like, feel it starting to happen.”
She continued, “Yeah, I was just really disappointed in myself, and then ironically, like, we were training, and then I injured myself, like I did another injury. So I just felt, like, hopefully that’s enough injuries for the whole year.”
Osaka also mentioned her mindset heading into the tournament of the Sunshine swing, and hopes to continue to play consistently devoid of any injuries, adding, “But yeah, I’m just grateful to be out here and be playing. Last year, I didn’t do too well here, so I think I already exceeded the previous year. So I just hope that I can keep going.”
In the round of 32, Osaka is all set to clash with Camila Osorio, marking their third career meeting, as the duo is 1-1 head-to-head.
