Former world number one Naomi Osaka, was defeated in her first-round match at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday. Osaka, who had to exit in the first round of the Canadian Open last week, lost 6-4, 7-5 to Zhang Shuai in a match that did not have a surprising end.

A four-time Grand Slam winner, Osaka’s recent performances have been quite worrying as she has failed to advance beyond the second round in her five previous games now. Her best performance this year was at the Miami Open, where she lost in the final to world number one Iga Swiatek. Since then, it has been one issue or the other, and her performance has been subpar.

Currently ranked 39th in the world, Osaka’s decline has mostly been due to health issues for one reason or the other. For instance, an Achilles injury kept her away from Wimbledon after losing in the first round at the French Open. Last week at the Canadian Open, she had to retire from her first-round match after complaining of lower back pain.

This is the first time since 2018 that the 24-year-old would lose two opening matches back to back. But in 2018, after the loss, she then went on to defeat veteran Serena Williams to win the US Open, for her first Grand Slam title, before going on to win the Australian Open months later.

It is unlikely that that would be the case this year, given her previous performance and also because she may still be under a lot of pain. Chances are that she might pull out of the US Open altogether, but it remains to be seen what would happen.

Osaka, whose highest ranking this year was 13th, has a lot of work to do on herself when you compare how in form she was 2 – 3 years ago. Age is still very much on her side, and she has everything it takes to recover herself and become a formidable player again. All in all, things still look very bright for her.

Written by: Leon Osamor