After a heartbreaking early exit from 2025 Australian Open, Naomi Osaka’s back home. The former World No.1 and two-time Australian Open champion retired midway against Belinda Bencic last Friday. In the third round encounter, the Japanese tennis sensation, suffering from an abdominal injury, took a bitter decision to leave. At that time, Bencic was leading 7-6(3) in the first set. While Osaka’s still trying to leave behind her unfortunate departure from the ‘Happy Slam’, she’s finding it tough to ‘feel at home’ after coming back from Melbourne. But why so?

Osaka is now in New York, but she’s struggling to adjust to the cold weather conditions. Of course, the situation is completely opposite to Melbourne, where temperatures are still peaking- above 30°C. It seems she wasn’t expecting a huge turnaround in the conditions. But that’s life for you!

In an Instagram story, posted on Monday, the four-time grand slam winner revealed how it’s become tough for her to live in New York, thanks to temperature dropping below zero degree.

“Coming from Australia so I don’t have anything in my suitcase for this weather 😭” she wrote while sharing a picture from New York. She revealed the temperature dipping, at minus two degrees. It’s clear that she wasn’t carrying fitting clothes for this such extreme situation at home. For the unversed, she shared a similar update on Sunday as well.

In a previous story on her IG account, Osaka had unveiled two photos. In the first one, she was seen wearing a black chic dress while going out in New York. In the next photo, she showed the extreme conditions outside with heavy snow.

After giving birth to daughter Shai, in 2023, Osaka’s run at the 2024 Australian Open. But she lost in the first round itself against Caroline Garcia. This was a pole opposite of her performances at the AO 2019 and 2021, where she was the victor. Her injuries affected her run throughout the year. Her injury woes have continued to haunt her even in 2025.

Before the Australian Open, the abdominal injury had forced her out of the ASB Classic in Auckland earlier this month. In that event, she succeeded in reaching the title clash. “I just want to thank everyone for welcoming me to such a beautiful city. I had a lot of fun playing here and I’m really sorry about how it ended. I hope you did enjoy the tennis that we did play and I’m just really grateful to be here,” she said, as reported by Tennis Infinity on January 5.

But what’s been the cause of her abdominal injury that’s holding her from shining on the court? Well, Naomi Osaka did throw light on this aspect, following her exit from the Happy Slam.

Naomi Osaka clears the situation on her abdominal injury following Australian Open exit

After an unwilling withdrawal from the Melbourne major, Naomi Osaka sat down for a press conference on January 17. She began by reflecting on her performance in the third round match and said, “I think I played really well today, regardless of the fact that I was injured. And it was really fun to play, like, such a close battle and I thought the points were fun while I was playing them.” However, one of the reporters was more curious about her abdominal strain.

They assumed that it had something to do with her pregnancy. But Osaka decided to clear out the confusion. “No, honestly, I kind of have a history of it since I was a teenager,” she replied. “But we were also doing everything we could, like I was going to therapy every day and stuff like that into the night. So the days have been very long for me. I kind of have a history of it since I was a teenager. At least once a year I’d get an ab strain. It’s more like the way my serve is. Like, it’s quite explosive.”

Further, she also mentioned that the ongoing abdominal strain began bothering her last season. To be precise, it was just before the end of 2024. “When I think about last year, I didn’t get an ab strain in the middle of the season. It was more towards the end, like Beijing.”

Osaka’s avid fans will now want her to get well soon. It will be intriguing to see when she will announce her comeback with a future WTA event. Do you think she’ll be able to make a timely recovery? Let us know in the comments below.