Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka returned to the court in 2024 after giving birth to her first child the year prior.
Osaka, 27, has had a frustrating comeback year on the WTA Tour, enduring a number of injuries and poor form as she looked to get herself back up to speed.
The Japanese star had a mixed bag of results in 2024, with Osaka’s tight defeat to Iga Swiatek at the French Open, perhaps the most promising.
Injury struck in the latter stages of the season, however, when Osaka retired from her Beijing Open match against Coco Gauff.
Most recently, Osaka withdrew from the Hong Kong Open stating that the back injury sustained in Beijing was still bothering her.
An injury that has put a premature end to the Japanese star’s 2024 season.
Naomi Osaka ends 2024 season after withdrawing from BJK Cup Finals
Following her withdrawal from the Hong Kong Open, Osaka announced that her season was coming to an end.
“I’m really sorry that I have had to withdraw from competing at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open and the rest of this tennis season,” she said.
The remaining tournament left on Osaka’s schedule was the Billie Jean King Cup Finals which were set to begin on November 13.
The event have now confirmed that Osaka’s Japanese team will be missing their star player in Malaga.
Osaka’s Japan are set to face off against Romania in the first round of the event, with the winners earning themselves a spot against Italy in the quarter finals.
WTA stars who won Grand Slams after giving birth
Osaka’s return to the WTA Tour was always going to be difficult after giving birth, as the body takes time to adjust following pregnancy.
Osaka was criticized by Martina Navratilova earlier this year, for not being in good enough shape during her Australian Open first-round defeat to Caroline Garcia.
It takes time however, and many WTA stars have been unable to reach the top of the game after giving birth, but who has managed to win a Grand Slam title after having a child?
Grand Slam winning ‘mothers’
Margaret Court
Court became the first mother to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era when she beat Evonne Goolagong, 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the 1973 Australian Open.
She went on to win two more Grand Slams in 1973, at the French and US Open as she finished with a record 24 Major titles.
Evonne Goolagong
Another Australian, Goolagong remains the only women to have won Wimbledon after giving birth.
The former world number one won her seventh and last Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 1980, beating Chris Evert in the final.
Kim Clijsters
The final and most recent woman to have won a Grand Slam title after giving birth is Kim Clijsters, who won the majority of her Major titles as a mother.
The Belgian star won back-to-back US Open titles in 2009 and 2010 before winning the Australian Open the year after, taking her tally to four Grand Slams.
Winning a Grand Slam title after giving birth is no mean feat, and many have tried and failed to do so.
The legendary Serena Williams fell at the final of four Major finals after giving birth, unable to get over the line in any of them.
If Naomi Osaka is to buck the trend, then she will need to get back to fitness as soon as possible and head to the Australian Open ready to push on towards further Grand Slam success.
The 2025 Australian Open begins on January 12.
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