Let’s have some tennis trivia! Who was the first woman since Monica Seles in 1991 to win her first four GS finals? The Answer: Naomi Osaka. Her last major triumph came at the 2021 AO, where she dominated Jennifer Brady in straight sets in the final. But since that shining moment at the Rod Laver Arena, nearly four years have passed without another piece of silverware for the Japanese. Her latest setback at Indian Wells felt like the last gasp of a long-fading spark. Yet, true to her resilient spirit, the former World No. 1 refuses to dwell in the shadows of the past. Instead, she chooses to look ahead with grace and hope, sharing a heartfelt message to shake off the recent heartbreak. But what exactly has she said?

From the very first serve, Osaka struggled to find her rhythm against the unseeded Camila Osorio in R128 of the Indian Wells. Battling through early pressure, she fended off breakpoints in the third game, but at 4-4, a crucial break in the ninth game handed the Colombian the opening set 6-4. The second set started with more trouble for Osaka, as she was broken in the first game itself. However, she immediately broke back and stayed steady until 3-3, but another break tilted the match in Osorio’s favor. Fighting until the very end, however, Osaka saved a match point in the ninth game, pushing Osorio to serve it out.

With her back against the wall, the 2-time US Open winner had four chances to break back in the last game, but the moment slipped away. Osorio eventually capitalized on her first match point, sealing the win and handing Osaka yet another painful defeat in the 2025 season. Moments after the match, the Japanese, who made a whopping 51 unforced errors in the match, took to social media, sharing a heartfelt message about her disappointment and frustration. 

“The worst match I’ve ever played in my life. Wow, I’m sorry to everyone who watched that,” the 27-year-old wrote on Threads yesterday. But it doesn’t seem to have taken her long to move on, as she has now shared another heartfelt message with her fans, offering them comfort and reassurance. “Got a lot of joy in me,” she wrote on Threads before re-sharing it on her IG story as well.

This was Osaka’s first official loss of the 2025 season, but her road has been far from smooth. She previously retired from two matches in: one at the ASB Classic and another in the third round of the Australian Open after dropping the first set to Belinda Bencic. 

Adding to her woes, the abdominal injury later forced her to skip the Middle East swing as well, making her BNP Paribas Open return all the more crucial. As a former champion of the tournament (2018), this first-round exit was a painful blow. And, right after the match, Osaka candidly reflected on her struggles, balancing raw disappointment with an unwavering determination to find her way back.

“I would have liked to win,” Naomi Osaka on her exit from the BNP Paribas Open

The journey back to the top level of tennis hasn’t been easy for Naomi Osaka. The former top seed has battled injuries, taken breaks for her mental health, and even stepped away from the sport for over a year to welcome her daughter, Shai. But in 2025, she seemed to be in a mood to make a statement with her performances. In her first tournament of the season, she stormed into the Auckland final, only to be forced to retire while leading Danish Clara Tauson due to an abdominal injury.

Still, she carried that momentum into the Melbourne major, delivering impressive wins over Caroline Garcia and Karolina Muchova before another setback struck: an ‘injury-forced retirement’ in the third round against Belinda Bencic, leaving her frustrated and longing for a stronger start to the year. Now, her Indian Wells campaign has ended in heartbreak as well, adding another blow to an already turbulent season. While disappointment was evident for the Japanese, she didn’t shy away from addressing her struggles after her defeat at the Indian Wells. 

“It feels really weird because I do think I did well in Australia. It feels like a little bit of a stopping/starting again. So I think it would have been really helpful to play more matches coming into this tournament, but obviously I couldn’t. The same thing kind of goes with my tennis today. Like, there were certain things that felt extremely off because I could only start practice serving after a certain amount of time and stuff like that. So I think given the situation, it wasn’t that terrible, but I would have liked to win and continue playing the tournament,” Naomi said after the match.

After the loss, Osaka dropped from 56th to 61st in the WTA live rankings. Do you think she will bounce back in her next tournament?