'Grab your passport and go down 12 flights of stairs': Naomi Osaka shares dramatic details of night before Canadian Open first-round clash

Japan’s Naomi Osaka has not had an easy ride on the tennis court in the recent past. The former world number one and the four-time Grand Slam winner returned to the court after taking a long break to deal with pregnancy in 2024 but she has found it hard to deliver consistent results, especially while coming against some of the best players in the world.

Since returning from the break at the start of 2024, Osaka has featured in the main round of seven Grand Slams but has never managed to get past the third round. This year, Osaka is having a better time overall compared to last year. She has played 33 matches at the highest level in 2025 and won 22 of them.

Osaka came into the ongoing Canadian Open after taking part in the DC Open where she was knocked out after losing to Britain’s Emma Raducanu in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2 in the round of 16. It was her 11th defeat in 32 matches this year. Osaka’s tough time did not end in Washington. She travelled to Montreal hoping to have things better but was forced to evacuate the hotel because a fire alarm just before the night of her round of 128 match against Canada’s Ariana Arseneault. She shared a picture on her official account on Instagram, explaining how she had to leave the building in panic. “POV: it's the night before your match and the fire alarm tells you to evacuate so you grab your passport and go down 12 flights of stairs lol,” she wrote.

Despite having a difficult time in the hotel, Osaka managed to get past her opponent in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2. After the match, Osaka stated that she was happy to return to playing in Montreal after a long time. “I haven’t been here since I was a teenager,” she said while talking in her on-court interview. “A long time ago. It’s really nice to be back. Thank you guys for having me.”

Important win 

The win was an important one for Osaka as she was playing her first match after parting ways with Patrick Mouratoglou. She announced the development in a post on social media, just two days before playing her first match in Montreal. “Merci Patrick," wrote Osaka in a post share on the social media platform. "It was such a great experience learning from you. Wishing you nothing but the best. You are one of the coolest people I've ever met and I'm sure I'll see you around."

Osaka’s next opponent will be Liudmila Samsonova of Russia. The 26-year-old was given a bye in the first round and will be playing her first match since taking part at Wimbledon. In that competition, Samsonova was knocked out after losing in the quarterfinal to Poland’s Iga Swiatek in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 7-5. This year, Samsonova has featured in 40 matches across different competitions and won 24 of them. Her best outing this year came at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she lost to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the final with a score of 6-1, 6-7, 6-1.

It will be the fifth meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous four meetings, both players emerged victorious on two occasions each. Two of those meetings were in 2025, whereas the first two were played last year. In the first meeting between the two players this year, it was Osaka who defeated Samsonova in the round of 64 of the Miami Open in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4. Their most recent outing came in the round of 32 of the Berlin Tennis Open, where Samsonova emerged victorious with a score of 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.