Naomi Osaka’s first match of the Asian swing ended in defeat following an opening-round loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the China Open.
The Japanese star was in control against Sasnovich after taking the first set, but the Belarusian came back to emerge victorious 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Osaka reached the US Open semifinals earlier this month and has been showing promising signs under the wing of her new coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, but couldn’t find an answer for the qualifier.
After crashing out of the WTA 1000 tournament, the four-time Grand Slam champion confirmed her next plans on tour.
Naomi Osaka reacts to her defeat in the second round in Beijing
Giving her immediate reaction after the match, Osaka said: “I mean, honestly, I don’t think I played well, but I tried to fight. So I’m happy with that.
“Yeah, it was the first match since the US Open, so [I’m] just going to work on a couple things and hopefully play better in the next tournaments.”
When asked what she plans to do next, Osaka responded: “Wuhan and then the Japan tournaments.”
The Wuhan Open is the final WTA 1000 event of the season, and is followed by a number of competitions, including two 250s in Japan.
The WTA schedule from now until the end of the season
The Wuhan Open will run from the sixth to the 12th of October, and is followed by the Japan Open and Ningbo Open, which both start on the 13th and finish on the 19th.
Later that month, the Guangzhou Open and the Toray Pan Pacific Open will take place, before three WTA 250s get underway in Hong Kong, Jiujiang, and Chennai, all of which end in early November.
Finally, the WTA Finals in Riyadh, pitting the top-eight singles stars against each other, start on the first of November, with the final on the eighth.
Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are the only two women already qualified for the year-end tournament so far.
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