Naomi Osaka is out of Indian Wells.
The four-time Grand Slam champion has officially withdrawn from next month's BNP Paribas Open, organizers announced today.
Osaka defeated Daria Kasatkina to capture the 2018 Indian Wells championship.
At the US Open earlier this month, Osaka failed to serve out the match against world No. 73 Leylah Fernandez and suffered a 7-5, 6-7(2), 4-6 third-round loss in Flushing Meadows. Osaka smashed a racquet and later whacked a ball into the crowd to earn a code violation for ball abuse in the third set of her loss to Fernandez. After the match, Osaka apologized for her action.
“I'm really sorry about that. I'm not really sure why," Osaka said. "Like, I felt like I was pretty—I was telling myself to be calm, but I feel like maybe there was a boiling point. Normally I feel like I like challenges. But recently I feel very anxious when things don't go my way, and I feel like you can feel that. I'm not really sure why it happens the way it happens now.”
The eighth-ranked Osaka said after her US Open loss she planned to take a break from the pro circuit.
“Basically I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match,” she said. “I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while.”
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