‘Brutal’ injury forces Naomi Osaka to retire from China Open Round of 16 encounter against Coco Gauff, fans react

Naomi Osaka succumbed to a lower back injury during her fourth-round clash with Coco Gauff at the China Open.

‘Brutal’ injury forces Naomi Osaka to retire from China Open Round of 16 encounter against Coco Gauff, fans react

Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff (Images via X)

In what could have been a blockbuster China Open match, an injury ended up playing spoilsport. Coco Gauff was up against Naomi Osaka in the fourth round of the China Open on Tuesday (October 1). 

Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion, won the first set 6-3 but Gauff made her comeback in the second set to push the match to the decider. But before they started the third set, Osaka deemed it best not to continue playing further due to the injury to her lower back. The match ended with Gauff advancing to the quarterfinals with a scoreline of 3-6, 6-4. 

On social media, fans praised Gauff for her gesture to the injured Osaka. After they shook their hands, Gauff approached Osaka and carried one of her bags. Before this match, Gauff and Osaka met four times on the WTA Tour with both winning two matches each.

FS Video

Hi everyone just wanted to say I’m extremely thankful and happy to have played in Beijing. That being said I feel like I owe a little backstory about today- So I locked my back up during practice earlier and honestly wasn’t sure if I could even play but I just wanted to try, unfortunately things just got progressively worse during the match. Totally worth it though lol.

Naomi Osaka wrote on Threads 
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Fans react to Naomi Osaka’s injury during China Open clash with Coco Gauff 

On social media, fans are wishing Naomi Osaka a speedy recovery, saying how it was unfortunate they couldn’t see a winner from this match. Many fans also praised Coco Gauff for lifting Osaka’s bag. 

Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka
Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka (Images via X)

Check a few reactions from the fans here:

The China Open was both Gauff and Osaka’s first tournament since their US Open exit. It was also Osaka’s first tournament since hiring renowned tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou. 

The 20-year-old American will next face Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva and the winner of the match will meet either Paula Badosa or home favorite Zhang Shuai who was on a 24-match losing streak before she arrived in Beijing. Gauff is searching for her second title on the WTA Tour as she had a successful tournament at just the ASB Classic earlier this year. 

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Since then, Gauff has made multiple quarterfinals and semifinal appearances in singles. In doubles, the youngster lifted her first French Open along with Katerina Siniakova by beating Italian pair Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. Seven-time singles title winner Osaka, however, is yet to win her first trophy this season.