"Please don't be sad. My life is a blessing" - Naomi Osaka puts family and birthday before career as big tournament sacrificed

Naomi Osaka's China Open campaign came to a sudden halt after coming the wrong end of a three-set thriller against Karolina Muchova in the last-16 of the penultimate WTA 1000 tournament of the year. The last of which is coming next week at the Wuhan Open, but Osaka has got bigger priorities than competing in the tournament.

The 2019 champion in Beijing saw an opportunity to battle for more silverware with a number of big names having departed in the early rounds. The 12th seed had defeated Maria Timofeeva and Sara Bejlek to set up a highly anticipated fourth round tie against Muchova.

It is fair to say that it went a lot better than their encounter in Bad Homburg earlier this year. Osaka was searching for her first WTA title since the 2021 Australian Open, but an achilles injury saw an abrupt end to that conquest, losing to the Czech 6-1, 1-0. They again clashed on grass in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. A much closer contest, but again Muchova had the measure of the four-time Grand Slam champion as she prevailed 7-6(4), 6-4.

Their third and most recent meeting of 2026 came in the Chinese capital and was a remarkable match. After trailing 4-1, Muchova won six of the next seven games to win the first set in sublime fashion. 33 minutes later, Osaka got back level. This time, she converted a 4-1 lead into a comfortable set win to force a decider.

Osaka had a break lead, but Muchova soon took command. While on serve, she created numerous match points but kept squandering them. It went to a tiebreak, with her ninth opportunity finally being converted. Osaka, who could not create any match points, finally departed the tournament.

It seemed to be a hard loss for Osaka to take. Another setback against a familiar foe in a gruelling battle lasting almost three hours. However, whatever commiserations and concerns fans had for Osaka would be swiftly pushed back by the Japanese, who shared an encouraging message after the defeat.

"I've seen some people say they're gutted for me, please don't be sad," she wrote on Threads. "My life is a blessing, I'm literally going to fly back home- see my beautiful daughter and spend my birthday with my family for the first time in years. I tried my best, and I'll have an opportunity to try again in Tokyo, it'll be alright!"

This decision has come at a cost, but one Osaka is willing to take. She will not turn up to the Wuhan Open, putting family and personal celebrations ahead of the WTA 1000 event. She lost in the second round last year, so very few points will come off her tally.

She continued to share some more insight from the match. "This match meant a lot to me. The outcome wasn't in my favor but it was the first time since Bad Homburg that my Achilles wasn't bothering me and I'm also happy with my attention span throughout the entire match lol."

A huge positive for the 28-year-old who continues to try and break back into the top 10 in the world and return to the elite after years of trying. 2026 has been a much more successful season with more deep runs in big tournaments. With 28 wins, this is her highest tally since 2019, making it a very productive campaign with still more time to improve that number.

While her top 10 wins and title count can be improved, Osaka has the experience and the class to take down anyone on her day. She will be a part of a stacked field on home soil, raring to compete in the Pan Pacific Open from October 26 - November 1.