Naomi Osaka ‘still processing’ withdrawing from Australian Open

Naomi Osaka is breaking her silence following her withdrawal from the Australian Open.

“It was a really sad decision for me,” Naomi told TNT Sports on Jan. 24 hours after she withdrew from the competition. “I really wanted to play, and I had every intention to go play, so honestly, I am still kind of processing it as it’s happening.”

Osaka believed that she would get better, but started noticing abdominal pain.

“I first noticed an issue in my last match,” she explained as she left the competition prior to her third-round match against Maddison Inglis. “So that’s why I had to take medical. And then I thought it would get better. Like, if I had a break day, but it kind of got worse after I warmed up today.”

Osaka explained that she believed that following her pregnancy with her two-year-old daughter Shai, she shared with her ex-boyfriend Cordae, resulted in changes to her body.

“I definitely have to do more tests and coming back from pregnancy, my body changed quite a lot,” she said. “This is something I have to be really cautious of.

“I thought I could push through it,” she conntinued. “I played my last match with some pain, and I thought maybe if I gave myself a break before my match today, I would be able to handle it. But I warmed up, and it got a lot worse.”

Her speaking out to TNT Sports follows her statement she made on social media.

“I’ve had to make the difficult decision to withdraw to address something my body needs attention for after my last match,” she announced on Instagram Jan. 24. “I was so excited to keep going and this run meant the most to me, so having to stop here breaks my heart but I can’t risk doing any further damage.”

“Thanks for all the love and support,” she added. “I’m so grateful everyone embraced me so much.

Osaka previously won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.