Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has accepted a wild card to participate in next week`s L`Open 35 de Saint-Malo. This marks her return to a WTA 125 tournament for the first time in a decade.
The Saint-Malo event announced Osaka`s late inclusion via social media on Thursday, stating that the former World No. 1 is anticipated to `make some noise` during her debut at the tournament.
According to the recently released Saint-Malo draw, Naomi Osaka`s first opponent will be 19-year-old Croatian Petra Marcinko in the opening round. Potential future matches could see her face sixth seed Olivia Gadecki in the quarterfinals and fourth seed Caroline Dolehide in the semifinals. The top half of the draw also includes notable players such as top seed McCartney Kessler, seventh seed Viktorija Golubic, and promising young French player Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.
Prior to this, Osaka engaged in an extended period of clay court training in France alongside her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. During this training, she indicated to the Tennis Majors website that she felt `stronger` and prepared to `grind it out if she had to`. However, her recent return to competition saw her lose in the first round of the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open. She was defeated by Italy`s Lucia Bronzetti in three sets on Tuesday, in what was her first match in a month since her fourth-round loss to Paolini at the Miami Open.
WTA rules permit players ranked No. 11 or lower to enter a WTA 125 event during the second week of a Grand Slam or a mandatory WTA 1000 tournament, provided they have been eliminated from the larger event.
Osaka`s only previous experience at the WTA 125 level was in November 2015 in Hua Hin, Thailand, where she finished as the runner-up. She was 18 years old and ranked No. 203 at that time. Her current decision to return to this tour category is aimed at accumulating more consistent match practice, particularly on clay, a surface she is still working to master.
This season, Osaka holds a match record of 9 wins against 5 losses. However, her performance since January has been less consistent, standing at 3-3, partly due to an abdominal injury that led her to retire from the ASB Classic final (against Clara Tauson) and the Australian Open fourth round (against Belinda Bencic).
Main draw play in Saint-Malo is scheduled to commence on Monday. Ranked 55th, Osaka is expected to be one of the seeded players, potentially the No. 2 seed, behind No. 53 Alycia Parks. The field also features the actual No. 1 seed Varvara Gracheva, as well as Americans Caroline Dolehide and Katie Volynets, and former Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria.
Since its upgrade to WTA 125 status in 2021, the tournament has seen champions like Beatriz Haddad Maia and Sloane Stephens. Jasmine Paolini was the runner-up in the inaugural edition.
In related news, next week`s Vic WTA 125 event will also host a former major champion: Bianca Andreescu. She is scheduled to play No. 4 seed Kimberly Birrell in the first round and is in the same half of the draw as No. 2 seed Lulu Sun and No. 6 seed Maya Joint. Former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez is the top seed in Vic, and former doubles World No. 1 Storm Hunter is returning to action after more than a year recovering from an Achilles injury.
