Naomi Osaka’s 2025 season emerged as one of the most consequential of her career since returning from maternity leave. The four-time Grand Slam champion navigated a complex path that encompassed emotional moments, promising victories, a strategic coaching transition, and some controversial incidents. Her 2025 season demonstrated resilience and vulnerability, ultimately culminating in a return to the elite list of women’s tennis rankings after years of uncertainty about her competitive future.
A Look at Naomi Osaka’s 2025 Season
Osaka’s Uncertainty at the Start of the Season
Before the 2025 season commenced, Osaka conveyed a candid message about her expectations and commitment to professional tennis. During a pre-tournament press conference in Auckland in December 2024, she articulated a clear ultimatum regarding her future on tour.
“I have a lot of respect for all the players on tour, but the point of my life that I’m at right now, if I’m not above a certain ranking, I don’t see myself playing for a while,” she stated.
Her remarks reflected a determination to pursue meaningful competition rather than grinding through lower-ranked matches. The Japanese star explained that she would prioritize spending time with her daughter, Shai, over competing at levels below her aspirations, signaling that 2025 would either represent a genuine comeback or potentially her final year competing at the professional level.
A Dream Comeback; That Never Happened
Osaka’s season began with promise at the ASB Classic in Auckland in January, where she reached her first WTA final since 2022. The tournament represented a symbolic return to championship-level tennis following her maternity break. In her opening set against fifth-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark, Osaka demonstrated commanding tennis, establishing a commanding 5-1 lead with two breaks of serve. After winning the opening set 6-4, she appeared poised to claim her first title in over four years, since the 2021 Australian Open.
However, the moment unraveled due to a sudden abdominal injury. As she sat at the changeover between sets, trainers assessed her condition while Osaka visibly struggled to contain her emotions.
Despite attempts to continue, the physical discomfort proved insurmountable. She withdrew from the final, ceding the title to Tauson in a result that would have been celebratory under different circumstances.
The Injury Returned at the Australian Open
The abdominal issue that had surfaced in Auckland proved to be a persistent problem when Osaka returned to competition at the Australian Open in Melbourne merely two weeks later. She advanced through her opening two rounds impressively, defeating Caroline Garcia before a notable comeback victory over 20th seed Karolína Muchová from a set down, despite injury concerns.
Her third-round encounter with Belinda Bencic on January 17th became a reprise of her Auckland experience. Osaka initially dominated the match, establishing a 6-5 lead in the opening set and appearing fully capable of progressing to the fourth round.
As the injury flared during the changeover, however, her movement deteriorated visibly. The discomfort intensified as the first set proceeded to a tiebreak, which Bencic secured 7-6 (3). Following the set’s conclusion, Osaka withdrew from the match, unable to continue.
While the retirement was undoubtedly disappointing, reaching the third round represented her most substantial Grand Slam result since returning to professional tennis and elevated her ranking to World No. 42.
Deep Run at Miami in March
After sitting out several tournaments to manage her injury recovery, Osaka returned to competitive action at the Miami Open in March. She advanced to the fourth round of the WTA 1000 tournament before losing to the Italian Jasmine Paolini. Her second-round victory over Liudmila Samsonova suggested that her form and confidence were gradually returning, and the result provided early evidence that her 2025 campaign contained genuine potential despite the earlier setbacks.
The Unexpected Clay Trophy
The most surprising development in Osaka’s 2025 campaign arrived at the WTA 125 event in Saint-Malo, France, in May. Accepting a wild card into the smaller professional event, she captured the title by defeating unseeded Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 6-1, 7-5 in the final. This victory became particularly significant given that Osaka secured five consecutive match victories in the course of just five days on a surface where she had never previously won a professional title.
Following the triumph, Osaka reflected on the significance of her success, remarking, “Kinda ironic to win my first trophy back on the surface that I thought was my worst. That’s one of my favorite things about life, though, there’s always room to grow and evolve.”
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The Saint-Malo championship represented her first title of any kind since the 2021 Australian Open: a four-year drought. Additionally, she did not face any opponent ranked inside the top 100 during her victorious campaign, though the achievement nonetheless provided meaningful confidence at a critical juncture in her comeback.
Osaka’s Reflection Amid On-Court Struggles
As summer approached, Osaka entered a period of deep introspection that reached beyond tennis. In early July, soon after winning Saint-Malo and exiting the French Open, she shared a series of candid Threads posts that revealed the emotional and philosophical dimensions of her comeback.
The spark came from a long conversation with her father, who, at 59, reflected on feeling closer to the end of his life than the beginning. He urged her to cherish what remained, drawing a parallel to her tennis career: an idea that initially confused and unsettled her.
Only after days of reflection did Osaka understand his point. Having played professionally since fourteen, and having picked up a racquet at three, she realized she had likely passed the midpoint of her career. That awareness pushed her to revisit the childhood dream that first drove her: holding the US Open trophy, which she once believed contained “fairy dust.” She surpassed that dream by winning the title twice, yet pressure and expectations had slowly diminished her ability to enjoy the journey.
A Pivotal Mid-Season Coaching Change
Following disappointing performances during the spring swing, Osaka made a significant decision regarding her coaching setup in July 2025. After nearly 10 months collaborating with Patrick Mouratoglou, the former Serena Williams coach, the two decided to part ways. While Mouratoglou had secured her maiden title at Saint-Malo, he felt something was absent from her competitive approach. “The thing that was missing was the competitiveness,” he stated regarding their separation.
Rather than remaining in limbo, Osaka moved swiftly to secure a new coaching arrangement. She enlisted Tomasz Wiktorowski, who had previously coached Iga Świątek during her most successful period when she captured four Grand Slam championships. The timing of this transition proved advantageous, as Wiktorowski would accompany Osaka to the Canadian Open in Montreal just weeks later: her first tournament with the new coaching arrangement.
The Montreal Final with New Coach Tomasz Wiktorowski
Osaka’s immediate result under Wiktorowski’s guidance was impressive in scope, as she advanced to the Canadian Open final in Montreal in August. Her opponent was 18-year-old Victoria Mboko, an unseeded wild card competing on her home court in Canada.
Despite representing a significant underdog, Mboko had navigated an extraordinary path through the draw, eliminating three Grand Slam champions: Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, and Elena Rybakina to reach the championship match.
The match itself saw Osaka capture the opening set 6-2 with authority, suggesting her form was ascending. However, Mboko’s youth and momentum proved decisive. The Canadian rallied to win the subsequent two sets 6-4 and 6-1, capturing her maiden WTA Tour title while simultaneously becoming the second teenager to triumph at a WTA 1000 event during 2025 after Mirra Andreeva at the Dubai Championships.
Canadian Open Final Speech Controversy
The aftermath of the final, however, generated more substantial discussion than the match itself. During the trophy ceremony, Osaka offered brief remarks acknowledging the tournament, the crowd, and her team, but notably made no public congratulatory statement directed toward Mboko.
For a player who had grown up admiring Osaka, this omission became noticeable to observers in the stadium and to the global tennis community following the broadcast. Commentators, former players, and social media users called attention to what many characterized as a lapse in sportsmanship. The backlash intensified considerably, with some individuals suggesting Osaka should contemplate retirement entirely.
Osaka subsequently addressed the incident via social media, acknowledging her oversight and offering a sincere apology. She wrote, “I also want to say sorry and congratulations to Victoria. You played a great match and have an amazing career ahead! I realize I didn’t congratulate you on the court.”
Despite the statement, the initial incident had already circulated extensively through social media, complicating her attempts at damage mitigation.
Remarkable US Open Performance
One month following her Montreal disappointment, Osaka arrived at the 2025 US Open as a seeded player, for the first time since the 2022 Australian Open. Her fourth-round opponent was Coco Gauff, the third-seeded American and 2023 champion. In a performance that demonstrated decisiveness and control, Osaka defeated Gauff 6-3, 6-2 in a match lasting merely one hour and six minutes. The victory represented a statement win against one of the tour’s most prominent players and served as confirmation that Osaka remained capable of competing at the sport’s highest competitive levels.
Osaka subsequently advanced to the semifinals, where she faced American eighth-seed Amanda Anisimova. The match extended to nearly three hours and concluded after midnight on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Though Osaka captured the opening set in a tiebreak before losing the second set tiebreak and ultimately the decisive third set 6-3, her progression to a Grand Slam semifinal represented her most substantial major achievement since commencing her comeback.
Season’s Conclusion Due to Injury and Uncertainty Ahead
Osaka’s 2025 campaign concluded in October at the Japan Open in Tokyo. While competing in the second-round match against defending champion Suzan Lamens, she sustained a left thigh injury during the third set.
Despite the physical discomfort and visible pain, she secured victory in the match by claiming the set 6-2 following a 7-6 (6) result in the opening set. However, the injury proved sufficiently severe that she withdrew from her scheduled quarterfinal match, effectively concluding her competitive season. Upon announcing her withdrawal, Osaka remarked with characteristic humor, “And that’s a wrap on my year. Great year, everybody. See you in Australia.”
She finished 2025 with a record of 35 wins and 15 losses, achieving a year-end ranking of World No. 16, her most substantial seasonal performance since her return. Most significantly, she had secured one professional title at Saint-Malo, advanced to the US Open semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament, and defeated the world’s No. 3 player in Coco Gauff.
AloJapan.com