Australian Open: Naomi Osaka Stops Playing Because Of An Injury Against Belinda Bencic

Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka stopped playing because of a strained abdominal muscle after dropping the opening set of her third-round match against Belinda Bencic on Friday.

"I kind of have a history of it, since I was a teenager. At least once a year, I'd get an ab strain. For me, I want to say it's more the way my serve is - it's quite explosive," Osaka said, explaining that she got hurt at a tournament in Beijing, where she retired from a match against Coco Gauff on Oct. 1. "Unfortunately, it carried on over to the beginning of this season."

This was Osaka's first run to the third round at a major tournament since 2022 . She missed time in recent seasons because of mental-health breaks, then was off the tour while pregnant. Her daughter, Shai, was born in July 2023.

Osaka began 2025 by making it to the final of a tournament at Auckland, New Zealand, on Jan. 5, but she stopped playing in the title match there because of the abdominal injury.

Then, she said, the problem got "way worse" after her second-round win in Melbourne on Wednesday against 2023 French Open finalist Karolina Muchova.