Naomi Osaka to compete at Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic next month

The field for the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic added a major name Monday morning as Naomi Osaka accepted a wild card bid to play in the tournament.

This will mark Osaka’s first time playing in the tournament since it moved to San Jose State’s campus, and her WTA main draw debut came at the tournament in 2014, when it was held at Stanford. This year’s tournament will run from August 1-7.

Osaka is currently ranked No. 38 in the world but was the WTA’s top-ranked player for 25 weeks in 2019 — the first Asian woman to reach No. 1 — and has four Grand Slam trophies to her name. Since reaching the top of the sport, the 24-year-old Osaka has become one of the faces at the intersection of mental health and sports. She has spoken out about her own struggles under the pressure of being a top-level athlete, gaining support from fans around the world.

She did not play in Wimbledon, which concluded just over a week ago, due to an Achilles injury and lost in straight sets during her last match, a round of 128 match at the French Open against American Amanda Anisimova, who will also play in San Jose.

Also in the field are six top-10-ranked players: No. 3 Maria Sakkari, No. 4 Paula Badosa, No. 5 Ons Jabeur, No.6 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 8 Danielle Collins, and No. 9 Garbiñe Muguruza, as well as Madison Keys and Bianca Andreescu.