Naomi Osaka to play at Indian Wells following Australian Open 2022 exit

Naomi Osaka has revealed that she will compete at Indian Wells in her first tournament following her third-round exit at the 2022 Australian Open. The WTA 1000 event is scheduled to take place between March 9-20, meaning that the Japanese will be skipping all of the tournaments in February.

Screen grab from Osaka's Instagram story

The four-time Grand Slam champion revealed the news during a Q&A session she hosted on Instagram. She also divulged that she has a lot of "fun" projects up in the air at the moment. But the former World No. 1 added in the same breath that she could only reveal what they were once they were completed.

"I'm doing a lot of things right now. I am the type of person that always has to have projects going on, I just never tell anyone what I'm doing until it comes out," Osaka wrote.

Screen grab from Osaka's Instagram story

Osaka is currently in Dallas, where she is catching up on some reading in addition to cheering on her long-time friend Christopher Eubanks at the Dallas Open.

The World No. 169 has reached the second round of qualifying at the ATP 250 event, where he takes on Vasek Pospisil for a place in the main draw. Osaka posted a short clip from his match on her Instagram story, saying she had dropped in to support her friend.

This dude got me over here watching tennis for fun," Osaka wrote.

Naomi Osaka's Instagram story of watching Christopher Eubanks in action

The 24-year-old also answered a question regarding the customized Nike shoes she wore last month at Melbourne Park. Inspired by the butterfly incident from 2021, Nike outfitted the Japanese with special Air Zoom Turbo's that were supposed to go on sale in February.

To a fan who had asked when they were coming out, Osaka replied that they are currently in transit and that they should be coming out soon.

"Yeah they are going to be released, that's literally one of the first questions I asked Nike when I had a call with them," Osaka wrote. "They said the shoes are stuck on a ship somewhere but should be coming out soon."

Naomi Osaka won her first WTA tour title at Indian Wells

Naomi Osaka won her first ever WTA title at Indian Wells in 2018

The Indian Wells Open is a tournament Naomi Osaka will remember with fondness, as it marks the site of her first title on the WTA tour. Unseeded in the 2018 edition, the former World No. 1 dropped only one set on her way to the title.

Osaka defeated Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets in the first and second rounds respectively. The fourth-round win against World No. 7 Maria Sakkari was where she dropped the lone set. The Japanese followed it up with comfortable victories over fifth seed Karolina Pliskova (6-2, 6-3) in the quarterfinals and top seed Simona Halep (6-3, 6-0) in the semifinals.

Naomi Osaka locked horns with Daria Kasatkina in the final where she outclassed the 20th seed 6-3, 6-2. The former World No. 1 can expect a similarly tough draw this time around as well, since she will be unseeded courtesy of her current ranking of No. 85.