Naomi Osaka is finally back on her favorite surface after going through a long and grueling clay and grass court swing. Her excitement immediately reflected on her face in Toronto when she said, “As soon as my foot touched the hard court, I felt like Sailor Moon, just transforming.” However, despite having a stellar start to her campaign against Ons Jabeur, the Japanese failed to deliver in the R2 against Elise Mertens. She was comfortably defeated by the Belgian in two sets. Next up for her is the Cincinnati Open. Here, she has no choice but to grind in the qualifiers! Osaka playing qualifiers? Well, that’s a bit surprising after seeing a few players refusing to play in recent times.
Recently, the famous tennis journalist, Ben Rothenberg put up a post making this announcement. He wrote, “Naomi Osaka will play a qualifying match for the first time since February 2018 tomorrow, facing Anna Blinkova in the first round of qualies for WTA 1000 Cincinnati.” However, if we closely follow the comment section of this post then surprisingly, Emma Raducanu gets more mention than the Japanese herself, but why?
Raducanu has been facing flak from the fans for her decision to skip the Toronto and Cincinnati tournaments after not receiving MDWCs in both of those WTA 1000 events. Both Osaka and Raducanu are former Grand Slam champions. In fact, Osaka has won four major titles compared to winning only one Raducanu, but still, she chose to play in the qualifiers. Reason? “I’m playing Cinci and I guess there’s then no other tournament.”
The 26-year-old Japanese tennis star reached the finals here in 2020, and she knows very well that she won’t be playing many matches before the US Open apart from this tournament. So, this is a big opportunity for her to gain some winning momentum. Even, Raducanu has struggled a bit with her fitness and lack of form in the last few months. Getting a few matches under her belt would’ve boosted her confidence ahead of the US Open, but she chose a different path, and here’s where the fans have all the objections.
With Naomi Osaka playing the qualifiers, fans are now questioning Emma Raducanu’s decision to snub it multiple times
Osaka and Raducanu are now two of the big names in the women’s tennis world. However, both of them have struggled a bit this season. Osaka’s best record has been reaching the QF twice this year in her previous tournaments. Raducanu has reached one SF and three QFs this season. However, as we mentioned earlier, the Japanese tennis star is a multiple Grand Slam title holder whereas, Raducanu’s only major triumph came at the 2021 US Open. Despite being a proven one, Osaka still chose to play the qualifiers to be in a better shape and position ahead of the mega event in NY and this is what led the fans to conclude, “Take note Raducanu!“
The Brit is currently ranked 69th in the world and she was relying on a main draw wild card entry into the Cincinnati tournament. However, the organizers have awarded them to Caroline Wozniacki, Peyton Stearns, Bianca Andreescu, and Caroline Dolehide. This decision perhaps made her a bit disappointed as she has now chosen to skip that event. However, fans took a jibe at her for such an action! One of them wrote, “And yet Raducanu – a lesser player than Osaka – continues to refuse to play qualies. Thinks she’s better than the riff-raff. Why she’s back in the UK.“
Naomi Osaka has a win-loss record of 17-15 (53.1%) and Raducanu has recorded 18-11 (62.1%) in this season. These are not too impressive numbers for either of them, especially if we consider their potential, however taking two different paths to NY made some of the fans say, “Naomi getting the hardworking narrative while Emma refuses to play qualifying“
However, this isn’t the first time that Raducanu has chosen not to take part in the qualifiers. Previously she refrained from taking part in the qualifiers of the 2024 French Open citing, “It’s important for me to keep laying on the foundations and I will use the time to do a healthy block before the grass and subsequent hard-court seasons to give myself a chance to keep fit for the rest of the year.” Are we going to see her at the WTA 250 event in Cleveland now? Well, can’t confirm anything at the moment but the fans aren’t too pleased with this decision. One of them wrote, “But Radacant thinks she’s too good. Make it make sense.“
Fans are happy to see Osaka taking a different path, but what perhaps might have led to Raducanu getting overlooked at the WTA 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati? Well, if we go back a little, Raducanu’s decision to pull out of the Miami Open in March after getting the wildcard and her poor performance in Madrid as a wildcard entrant perhaps added a bit of fuel to the fire. She even turned down a wildcard to play in the Paris Olympics. Seeing the current stands of the Japanese and British tennis star, another one wrote, “Good for her…not afraid to drop down to qualies unlike some…“
Playing only in the events where wildcards are offered is certainly not a long-term approach. This decision may well backfire on her in the near future. What are your thoughts on this issue?
