Coco Gauff carries Naomi Osaka’s bags off court after the Japanese star retired injured from their match in Beijing
Coco Gauff carried Naomi Osaka’s bags off court after the Japanese star sustained a lower back injury during their clash in China; watch all the ATP and WTA action on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+ which is integrated into Sky TV, NOW and the Sky Sports app
Coco Gauff carried Naomi Osaka’s bags off court after the Japanese star retired due to a lower back injury sustained during their match at the China Open on Tuesday.
In the first meeting between the two Grand Slam champions in more than two years, Osaka found herself 6-3 and a break up at 4-3 on Gauff before fading fast as she went on to lose three straight games, including two service games, to drop the second set and then retire with an injury.
“It was a good match up until this point. I wish Naomi a speedy recovery. No one wants to win a match like this. Especially at one-set all,” said 20-year-old Gauff.
“Overall I tried my best. It wasn’t my best tennis.. It was one of those matches where you try your best each point.”
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It had been an encouraging week for Osaka, who was playing her first tournament under new coach Patrick Mouratoglou, and she was the better player for most of the two sets in a much-anticipated fifth meeting between two of the WTA Tour’s biggest stars – and a first since 2022.
Gauff had just levelled at one-set all when Osaka, who received medical treatment early in the contest, shook hands and called it a day.
Former WTA No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka blasted a critic for calling her a “fluke.”
“I just saw someone call me a fluke,” Osaka wrote on Threads. “How is possible to be a fluke with 4 grand slams, lighting the Olympic torch, beating multiple top 20 opponents and being close to top 50 the year after giving birth?… You couldn’t even touch one of my accomplishments with her fingernail.”
Osaka then shared the post on her Instagram story with the caption, “Did I lieeeee????”
Osaka’s progress at the China Open, where she won three straight matches for the second time this year, is the next step in her continued effort to climb the WTA rankings following her January return.
Since her close loss to No. 1 Iga Świątek during the French Open in May, Osaka has fought through several early tournament exits including a first-round elimination from the 2024 Paris Olympics in July and a qualifying-round loss at the Cincinnati Masters in August.
The most disappointing may have been Osaka’s second-round exit at the U.S. Open, where she won two of her Grand Slam titles in 2018 and 2020.
Osaka celebrated her return to the tournament for the first time since 2022 with an opening-round win over No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko. The victory marked Osaka’s first defeat of a top-10 opponent in four years.
She was then unable to overcome No. 52 Karolina Muchova as she lost the second round in straight sets.
Osaka, who turns 27 later this month, recently hired Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou. She will now hope the coach who helped Williams claim 10 of her 23 Grand Slam wins can help her make a deeper run during next year’s major championship itinerary.
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