Osaka pulls out of home Japan Open through injury

Naomi Osaka will not play at her home Japan Open next week due to a back injury, organisers confirmed on Monday.

The 26-year-old was forced to retire during the last 16 against eventual champion Coco Gauff at the China Open in Beijing last week because of the same injury.

Osaka was on a three-match winning streak before her meeting with Gauff, having also registered her first comeback victory in two years earlier in the tournament when she beat Yulia Putintseva in the second round.

However, the four-time grand slam winner has not recovered in time and will not be able to play on home soil when the tournament starts on October 14.

"Due to injury, Naomi Osaka has decided to withdraw from the tournament," the Japan Tennis Association said in a statement.

Osaka is still scheduled to play in the Pan Pacific Open Tennis Tournament 2024 in Tokyo, which begins on October 21.

Her last appearance in her home country was at that tournament in 2022, when she withdrew in the second-round match with abdominal pains.