Naomi Osaka reveals ‘bulged disc in back’ as she makes ‘toughest decision’

Naomi Osaka has become the latest player to call an early end to her 2024 tennis season as she has suffered an injury setback.

The four-time Grand Slam winner hasn’t featured on the WTA Tour since the China Open when she was forced to retire from her fourth-round match against Coco Gauff.

After sharing the first two sets, Osaka threw in the towel ahead of the deciding set because of a back injury and she later made light of the situation as she revealed on social media she picked up the problem during training

“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,” she wrote.

“Totally worth it though lol.”

She was subsequently forced to skip the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open qualifiers and the main draws of the Japan Open and this week’s Pan Pacific Open.

Her next event was due to be the Hong Kong Open while she was also part of Japan’s squad for the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga in November.

However, the injury is a lot more serious than initially thought and she has decided to end her campaign early.

“I thought I strained my back, but I did an MRI in Beijing,” the former world No 1 said. “They said I bulged a disc in my back and I also ruptured abdominal muscles.

“I was practising in Los Angeles in order to play here. I took another MRI and it said I still have tears.

“I’ve played so many tournaments this year, so it was the toughest decision to not play this and not play BJK.”

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After skipping the 2023 season as she was on maternity leave, Osaka started this year unranked and she initially struggled during the first few months before finding some form as she made her climb up the rankings again.

Her best displays have been a couple of quarter-final runs in Doha and ‘s-Hertogenbosch while she also claimed six top-20 wins and finished the season with a 22-17 record in 2024

Osaka – who hired Patrick Mouratoglou as coach in September following a surprise split from Wim Fissette – will finish the year inside the top 100 of the WTA Rankings as she currently finds herself at No 56.