Naomi Osaka pulls out of Cincinnati Open with surprise reason as tournament hiatus continues

The main draw for the Cincinnati Open is very close to getting underway with the busy North American hardcourt swing relentless to all that are involved. Naomi Osaka is taking the brunt of this after a deep run in the Canadian Open, withdrawing from the event in Ohio due to fatigue as she prepares for the US Open.

It has been a productive period on court as of late for the Japanese who has come off the back of a strong grass swing full of confidence. She reached her first WTA 1000 final in this time last year, the first since the 2022 Miami Open. She would take the first set, but end up losing to the surprise package that was Victoria Mboko.

A year on, she makes a return to her favourite surface determined to produce a similar result. Straight set wins over Panna Udvardy, Elise Mertens and Leylah Fernandez to set up a quarter-final showdown against the World No.2 Elena Rybakina. In their first ever meeting, the four-time Grand Slam champion took a set and break advantage before the Kazakh slowly clawed her way back into contention, ending her run in Toronto.

It was the first quarter-final reached at this level since the final run last year with three of the four WTA 1000 tournaments Osaka has competed in this year culminating at the last-16 stage. This burst of matches has taken its toll on the 28-year-old with her making the tough decision to withdraw from the Cincinnati Open.

"I’m really sad to have to withdraw from Cincinnati this year due to fatigue," Osaka said in a statement. "I love playing here and am looking forward to coming back and competing in Cincinnati next year."

11-time doubles Grand Slam champion Katerina Siniakova will benefit by going into the seeding position left vacant by Osaka, although she is in the same draw as four-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka. She will get a bye into the second round with either Jessica Bouzas Maneiro or Anna Bondar her opponent. Osaka will be replaced by either a qualifier or a lucky loser who will tackle Maria Timofeeva.

Incredibly, the last time Osaka competed at the Cincinnati Open was in the qualifying rounds back in 2024. She failed to make it into the main draw after losing the third set against Ashlyn Krueger, showing how far the pecking order she had tumbled.

The former World No.1 took a hiatus from the sport in 2021 as she focused on her mental health before again stepping away from the action once more in 2023 to become a mum, missing that entire year before coming back in 2024.

That obviously impacted her participation in Cincinnati over the years. After debuting in 2018 right before her maiden Grand Slam triumph, her best result came in 2020 in a run to the final. She would withdraw from the match citing a hamstring injury, gifting Victoria Azarenka the glory. Her last appearance came in 2022 in a first round defeat.

She has not hit those prior heights, but the feeling is that she is slowly getting there. A final in the Berlin Ladies Open followed by a quarter-final at Wimbledon where she took down World No.1 Sabalenka expertly. Her North American hardcourt swing began with another deep run, this time at the DC Open where eventual champion Alexandra Eala toppled her in the semi-finals.

This last-eight run in Canada backs up that form as she wisely and cautiously rests and preserves her body for the US Open. A large chunk of points are again on the line with her semi-final performance from last year the first time she made it past the last-16 of a Grand Slam and not go on to win it. Osaka will look to be in the best condition ahead of the event with an outside shot at a fifth major title, and a third at Flushing Meadows, up for grabs.