WTA Osaka Tournament: Naomi Osaka Advances to Quarterfinals Despite Injury

On October 15th, Beijing time, the WTA250 Osaka event held the women's singles second round matches. Top seed Naomi Osaka battled hard to defeat defending champion Rybakina 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2, securing her place in the quarterfinals. However, it is concerning that she suffered a thigh injury near the end of the match.

Profile image of Naomi Osaka

When Naomi Osaka led 5-0 in the deciding set, she suddenly felt discomfort in her left leg during Rybakina’s service game. At 40-30, Osaka requested a medical timeout. Returning to the court with her left thigh wrapped in a bandage, her mobility was clearly limited. She aimed to finish the match quickly by avoiding long rallies. Although she missed two match points on her serve, she converted the third with a backhand winner to seal the victory.

"It was really tough, and I’m sorry about my attitude during the match," Osaka said in a post-match interview that was cut short due to her leg injury. At the press conference, she expressed optimism about continuing: "I took Advils, so I feel a bit better than before, but clearly the injury isn’t good. My movement is obviously restricted. It’s not ideal, but I usually recover quickly and should be ready for the next match."

Naomi Osaka will face Romanian player Cristian in Friday’s quarterfinal. Cristian overcame a first-set bagel to turn the match around, defeating 8th seed Bosmans Manero 0-6, 6-4, 6-2.

In two other women’s singles second-round matches, Romanian talent Costea defeated British player Bolt decisively 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals, where she will face the winner between 5th seed Buzkova and Grubusic. Sixth seed Danilovic advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over American Krueger; her quarterfinal opponent will come from the match between 3rd seed Mertens and qualifier Valentova.

(Text and editing by Wang Fei, photos courtesy of Visual China)