Naomi Osaka Reveals Brutal Injury She Suffered After Heartbreaking French Open Exit

Naomi Osaka's French Open campaign came to an end in the first round itself. She is considering taking another break from tennis.

Naomi Osaka Reveals Brutal Injury She Suffered After Heartbreaking French Open Exit

Naomi Osaka (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

Naomi Osaka was expecting to at least make a deep run at the French Open. But Paula Badosa crushed her hope with a hard-fought victory in the first round. It was their first meeting on the tour and the Spaniard has now taken a 1-0 head-to-head record over the Japanese ace.

Throughout her match against Badosa, Osaka looked too long at her hands and once, she also knelt down to examine her blisters. Later at the press conference, she revealed that she has been dealing with the injury since the Italian Open where her campaign was ended by Peyton Stearns in the fourth round. Days after her defeat, Osaka took to Instagram to share pictures of her open blisters on her knuckles.

I genuinely cannot bend these fingers all the way lol.

Naomi Osaka wrote on Instagram Story

Check out her post here:

Naomi Osaka's Instagram story
Naomi Osaka’s Instagram story

In another post, she hinted at taking another break from tennis. Osaka previous took a mental health break back in 2021. She also took maternity leave in 2023 during which, she gave birth to daughter Shai, and made her comeback at the 2024 Brisbane International.

Me: ‘I’m sick of this I’m gonna take a break for a while. Me a day after my match because I have anxiety if I don’t work out.

Naomi Osaka wrote

Check out the post here:

Naomi Osaka's Instagram story (2)
Naomi Osaka’s Instagram story

Osaka hasn’t yet lifted a title on the tour-level title this year but after her Madrid Open first-round exit, she accepted the wild card for the Saint-Malo Challengers, which she ended up winning by beating Kaja Juvan. She last won a tour-level singles title at the 2021 Australian Open.

Patrick Mouratoglou reacts to Naomi Osaka’s French Open exit

Naomi Osaka was visibly emotional during the press conference. At one point, she even broke down into tears. She said she hates disappointing people and wondered what her coach Patrick Mouratoglou must have thought. The Frenchman took to Instagram to show his support for his protege and also took responsibility for her disappointing exit.

Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka (via X/The Tennis Letter)

You can be proud of yourself @naomiosaka. The efforts you make, the work, and the heart you put in it are amazing. Considering all that, I haven’t been able to help bringing you where you deserve to be. But I have no doubt, this will pay off soon. It is like a construction. You have built strong foundations but until the building is over, we don’t see the real quality of the edifice. To be continued…

Patrick Mouratoglou wrote on Instagram

Check out his post here:

Badosa, after knocking out the four-time Grand Slam champion, came from a set down to beat Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse, booking her spot in the third round. The 10th seed will next face 17th seed Daria Kasatkina against whom, she holds a 3-3 head-to-head record.

Both the players have won a match against each other on clay. The Australian ace, before setting up the clash with the former World No.2, knocked out Katerina Siniakova and Leolia Jeanjean.

Badosa is a French Open quarterfinalist, reaching the last eight in 2021, while Kasatkina has made it to the semifinals back in 2022. Osaka, on the other hand, has never progressed beyond the third round of the clay-cour Major, reaching the round of 32 thrice (in 2016, 2018, and 2019).

Last year, the 27-year-old, in the second round, was on the verge of knocking out Iga Swiatek who later went on to win the title and entered the ongoing tournament as the three-time defending champion. Badosa could meet Swiatek if they reach the final but before that, she could set up a fourth-round clash with Mirra Andreeva.

Also read: Alex de Minaur Offers Insightful Solution to the ATP Tour to Protect Players From Burnout