Naomi Osaka forced to retire from 2025 Australian Open

Naomi Osaka's dreams of a 2025 Australian Open title ended Friday as she was forced to retire with an abdominal injury. 

After comfortable wins in the opening two rounds, Osaka jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the first set against Belinda Bencic in the third round and looked every bit like a former four-time major winner. However, the abdominal injury started bothering her late in the first set, causing her to lose her break of serve and ultimately a tiebreaker. 

Osaka withdrew before the start of the second set, handing Bencic a spot in the fourth round in Melbourne. After the match, the Japanese star revealed she was nursing the same abdominal issue that forced her to pull out of the ASB Classic final earlier this month. The injury in Auckland cast doubt over her participation in the Australian Open, but she looked healthy in the first two rounds of the major.

The former World No. 1 noted that she began feeling the effects of the ab strain after her second-round win over Karolina Muchova.

"It was, I guess, a little inevitable, but I think the competitor in me just wanted to see it through to the end," Osaka said of her injury, via ESPN. "I just hope that I can figure it out and figure out how to get healthy in time (before the next tour stop)."