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On Tuesday, Naomi Osaka’s 2024 return took a turn for the worst as she lost to Danielle Collins 5-7, 0-6 in the opening round of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open. Despite not being placed in the top 750 WTA rankings, the Japanese player has stated that she only plans to participate in elite competitions; so far, this hasn’t worked out for her.
At the Abu Dhabi Open this week, Osaka’s form didn’t get much better either. In her first-round loss to Collins, the former World No. 1 won just five games. After the match, Osaka acknowledged that she had some reservations about competing in elite competitions, but she also stated that she still intended to compete in the WTA 1000 events in Miami, Indian Wells, and Doha.
To acquire further match play, the reporter asked Osaka if she would consider competing in the WTA 250 tournaments. She expressed her thoughts about it and said: “I think I’m going to finish out the hard-court swing and then figure it out. I’m less confident but I’m not too unconfident to think that I can’t play really good tennis.”
Naomi Osaka in 2024
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Now ranked no.757, the Japanese played her last match on the 6th of February when she lost to world no.71 Danielle Collins 7-5 6-0 in the 1st round in Abu Dhabi (draw).
This season the Japanese has managed to achieve a compiled 1-3 match record.
Osaka will compete next in Doha (Qatar TotalEnergies Open). She will start from the main draw that will commence on the 12th of February.
Naomi Osaka |
Embed from Getty Images |