Naomi Osaka confirms next tournament while on injury break since Australian Open heartbreak

Naomi Osaka has confirmed her next tournament after an injury ended her 2025 Australian Open campaign. She reached the third round but was forced to withdraw before her match against Belinda Bencic.

Osaka started the season on a strong note at the ASB Classic in Auckland, where she was the seventh seed. She had an impressive run to the final but had to give a walkover during her match against Clara Tauson due to an abdominal injury.

Those injury struggles followed her to Melbourne, where she defeated Caroline Garcia and 20th seed Karolina Muchova to set up a clash with Bencic. However, after losing the first set 6-7(3), her abdominal issues flared up again, forcing her to retire mid-match.

Naomi Osaka has been recovering from her injury and recently held a Q&A session with fans on Instagram. When asked about her next tournament, she confirmed that she would be playing at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

"What tourney r u going to play next??? I miss watching u play since AO," the fan wrote.

The four-time Grand Slam champion replied:

"I'm playing Indian Wells. I miss you guys also.”

Naomi Osaka via Instagram Stories

Naomi Osaka reveals special motivation behind playing Indian Wells 2025

Naomi Osaka pictured at the 2025 Australian Open | Image Source: Getty

Naomi Osaka recently spoke to CNN Sports as she continues recovering from her injury. She revealed that playing in the BNP Paribas Open this year holds extra significance for her because of Venus Williams.

Osaka shared that Williams was one of the reasons she started playing tennis and expressed her excitement about attending the tournament and seeing her

“She’s probably the reason why I started playing," she said. "It makes me really excited to go to the tournament and see her, and I feel like she probably doesn’t know how many people she’s inspired because even she inspired me – and through me, there’s probably other kids that are inspired. So it keeps the legacy going."

Williams has received a wild card entry for Indian Wells, in what would be the 44-year-old’s first event in almost a year. She has not played since losing in the first round of the Miami Open in March 2024 and hasn’t won a match on tour since August 2023.

This year's ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event will be played from March 2 and will conclude on March 16.