Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is set to compete in a WTA 125 tournament for the first time in a decade, having accepted a wild card entry into next week`s L`Open 35 de Saint-Malo.
Tournament organizers announced Naomi Osaka`s late addition on Thursday via social media, expressing excitement for the former World No. 1`s debut and predicting she is ready to “make some noise”.
Following an extensive training block on clay in France with her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, during which she indicated feeling “stronger” and prepared for challenging matches, Osaka recently returned to competitive play. Her first match in a month was a three-set loss to Italy`s Lucia Bronzetti in the first round of the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday. Prior to that, her last match was a fourth-round exit in Miami against Paolini.
WTA regulations permit players ranked No. 11 or lower to participate in a WTA 125 event during the second week of a Grand Slam or mandatory WTA 1000 tournament, provided they have already been eliminated from the larger event.
Osaka`s only previous appearance at a WTA 125 tournament was in November 2015 in Hua Hin, Thailand, where she finished as runner-up as an 18-year-old ranked No. 203. Her decision to return to this level is motivated by the desire for more consistent match practice, particularly on clay, a surface she aims to improve on.
Osaka`s overall season record stands at 9 wins and 5 losses. However, since January, her record is 3-3, partially due to an abdominal injury that led to her retiring from the ASB Classic final (against Clara Tauson) and the Australian Open fourth round (against Belinda Bencic).
Main-draw play in Saint-Malo is scheduled to begin on Monday. Ranked No. 55, Osaka is expected to be the No. 2 seed, behind No. 53 Alycia Parks. The field also includes No. 1 seed Varvara Gracheva, Americans Caroline Dolehide and Katie Volynets, and former Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria.
The updated draw confirms that Naomi Osaka will face 19-year-old Croatian Petra Marcinko in the first round, not Parry as initially speculated. She is potentially projected to meet No. 6 seed Olivia Gadecki in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Caroline Dolehide in the semifinals. Other notable names in the top half of the draw include No. 1 seed McCartney Kessler, No. 7 seed Viktorija Golubic, and rising French teenager Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.
Since the tournament was elevated to WTA 125 status in 2021, past champions have included Beatriz Haddad Maia and Sloane Stephens, while Jasmine Paolini was the runner-up in the inaugural edition.
Jasper Hawthorne 
Dominic Ashworth