Naomi Osaka’s bizarre problem resolved, Cincinnati appearance no longer in jeopardy

Naomi Osaka’s Cincinnati look is now not in jeopardy after the four-time Grand Slam champion discovered her lacking baggage with the assistance of United Airways.

On Friday, former world No. 1 Osaka took to X to disclose the difficulty she was coping with – her baggage went lacking throughout a flight and since her rackets have been in these baggage, she wanted them to rapidly be situated or in any other case she would not have the ability to play on the WTA 1000 match in Cincinnati subsequent week. 

EDITOR’S PICKS

“lol @united misplaced my baggage and if I don’t get them tonight or tomorrow I actually can’t play Cincinnati,” Osaka wrote on X on Friday.

The flight firm observed Osaka’s publish and responded: “Hello, Naomi. We’re sorry to listen to this. We might prefer to look into this and help additional. When you’ve got a second, please DM your bag tag quantity.” 

Hello, Naomi. We’re sorry to listen to this. We might prefer to look into this and help additional. When you’ve got a second, please DM your bag tag quantity. ^NB https://t.co/Y6hG6u3i8R

— United Airways (@united) August 9, 2024

After encouraging Osaka to succeed in out on to them, the Japanese tennis star’s situation was resolved.

“replace : I obtained my baggage,” Osaka introduced on Saturday.

replace : I obtained my baggage

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) August 10, 2024

The Cincinnati organizers helped Osaka get into the principle draw 

Since Osaka is at present ranked at No. 95 on the planet, she wasn’t shut to creating the Cincinnati most important draw instantly. However final week, the Cincinnati organizers got here by means of for the 26-year-old Japanese after they introduced her as a most important draw wildcard recipient. 

And by handing out Osaka a wildcard, the Japanese ensured she would make her fifth most important draw look in Cincinnati. Previously, Osaka performed in Cincinnati for the primary time in 2016 when she did not earn a most important draw spot by means of the qualifying occasion after shedding to Daria Saville within the qualifying closing spherical.

Two years later, there was no want for Osaka to play within the qualifying occasion as she was a WTA 1000 champion when she made her Cincinnati debut in 2018. Sadly for the Japanese, it wasn’t a powerful most important draw debut after she misplaced to Maria Sakkari within the first spherical.

Since then, Osaka has made 4 extra appearances on the Cincinnati occasion – and her greatest end result on the match got here in 2020 – when she made the ultimate earlier than giving Victoria Azarenka a walkover resulting from a hamstring damage. It ought to be famous that that yr the Cincinnati match did not happen in Cincinnati however in New York because of the pandemic.

In her final Cincinnati look – which got here in 2022 earlier than her being pregnant – Osaka was overwhelmed by Shuai Zhang within the first spherical.

How Osaka did in Toronto this week and what are her targets?

Earlier this week, Osaka made a lightning begin to her Toronto run after destroying three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur 6-3 6-1 within the Toronto first spherical. Following that efficiency, some have been left satisfied that this was the match the place the previous world No. 1 may have her greatest run since launching her post-pregnancy comeback. However then, the 26-year-old Japanese obtained shocked by Elise Mertens 3-6 4-6 within the second spherical. 

“I feel, actually, I really feel I may have put slightly little bit of, slightly bit extra into the groundstrokes. I feel I obtained slightly bit caught up in being constant and being, I assume, within the rallies. I feel, I do not know, it is robust as a result of enjoying in opposition to her, you do not essentially hit winners immediately, you must open up the courtroom, and I really feel like I sort of obtained into the rhythm of probably not hitting winners and, yeah, I perhaps began enjoying her sport a bit extra, however not too mad at it, really,” Osaka stated in her presser after shedding to Mertens.

For Osaka, the objective is obvious – that is to return to her Grand Slam-winning kind and once more be a top-10 participant. Whereas it hasn’t occurred to this point this yr, the four-time Grand Slam champion stays hopeful in some unspecified time in the future she is going to rediscover her outdated sport. 

“Yeah, I imply, what, shoot for the celebrities, yeah (laughing). I, sadly, have at all times suffered from, like, perfectionism and I doubt myself lots, however I feel going by means of this course of and having actually robust losses that I’ve realized lots about myself and I realized that I actually love this sport and am prepared to do no matter it takes to get to the place I really feel like I should be. I do know there’s going to be much more robust losses, however hopefully, yeah, hopefully I will be again within the high 10,” Osaka defined. 

It stays to be seen if Osaka could make a robust Cincinnati run and make some noise forward of the US Open, the place she is a two-time champion.