Following her Australian Open mid-tournament withdrawal, four-time Grand Slam Champion Naomi Osaka suffered another unfortunate exit at the second tournament of her 2026 season. The Japanese star faced the World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament at Indian Wells and bowed out in straight sets.
However, another four-time Grand Slam Champion, Kim Clijsters, focused on the positives from her campaign, discussing areas of her gameplay she can improve.
Kim Clijsters’ Advice to Naomi Osaka Following Indian Wells Exit Against Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka defeated Osaka 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday, March 10, in the Round of 16 match of the Indian Wells tournament, ending the title hopes of the 2018 champion. The Belarusian showcased near-perfect gameplay, committing no double faults while landing eight bullet-like aces, leaving the Japanese with no answers.
After the match, Clijsters analyzed Osaka’s gameplay and the recent improvements in her game along with tennis reporter Blair Henley. Talking about the Japanese’s fitness level, the four-time Grand Slam Champion said, “I do think tennis-wise, she is back at the level that she had before she had her daughter. I think she’s just as fit, if not fitter.”
The Belgian addressed Osaka’s improved serves, stating, “She hits the ball, not quite as hard as a Sabalenka or Rybakina, but she serves. She hits the ball almost as hard as those top players.”
“The difference where she lacks a little bit is her overall court game. When she plays somebody who hits the ball hard, it’s either you go harder or go home. Like she doesn’t have other solutions,” Clijsters added as a crucial point where Osaka needs to improve.
She then mentioned how top players, including Sabalenka and Elise Mertens, stopped playing doubles to focus on their singles careers.
However, the Belgian had different advice for the Japanese, saying, “At times, they would almost recommend like ‘Hey, try to pull back a little bit on the doubles’ where with Osaka I almost feel like ‘Oh, it would be great to see her play some doubles’ because I really think that she could benefit from just being a little bit more comfortable coming in and using the doubles as an advantage in her singles game. But I think she’s better than what she was before.”
Finally, talking about how Osaka can improve her performance even more, Clijsters suggested, “There’s a lot of players that make it really hard or take Osaka’s strength away from her, and when that happens, you have to be able to fall back on a couple of solutions, and at times, I think she doesn’t have those.”
These observations by the four-time Grand Slam Champion hold true if we consider Osaka’s form since last year’s North American hard-court swing. She has shown glimpses of her past champion form, making multiple deep runs and returning to the WTA top 20. Notably, she suffered many health issues, leading her to withdraw before her matches, which might be another reason why she was not able to lift any trophies during this time.
In her first match at Indian Wells against Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva, Osaka struggled a bit in the first set despite having a 5-2 lead. She then recovered from a 5-5 scoreline and then finished with 7-5 before completely dominating the second set and taking it 6-2.
Against Colombian Camila Osorio, the Japanese opened strongly, taking the first set 6-1, but her opponent was able to counter her attack in the second set and stun her with a 6-1, 3-6 scoreline. However, Osaka again showed her resilience and reeled off to take another 6-1 set to finish the match in just under an hour and 45 minutes.
Sabalenka, on the other hand, has now advanced to the Indian Wells quarterfinals, where she will face the Canadian sensation Victoria Mboko, who stunned American Amanda Anisimova in her Round of 16 match.
According to PFSN’s exclusive interactive simulator, the Belarusian has a 72% chance of stunning the 19-year-old and reaching the semifinals, where she can potentially face Linda Nosková.
