Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka won the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo in France on Sunday, which marked her first title since the 2021 Australian Open, and the first one since becoming a mom in July 2023.
The former world No. 1 lifted the trophy with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Kaja Juvan, celebrating what also happened to be her first title on a clay surface at any level.
“Kinda ironic to win my first trophy back on the surface that I thought was my worst,” Osaka wrote on social media. “That’s one of my favorite things about life though, there’s always room to grow and evolve. Thanks to everyone accompanying me on this journey, I know it’s turbulent but it’s also really fun and I’m grateful.”
This was a WTA 125 tournament, which is designated as Challenger event and therefore is not considered an official WTA Tour title. It is a lower level from what Osaka is used to competing, but it was a great way for Osaka to bounce back after suffering an early exit at the Madrid Open two weeks ago.
She has missed a lot of playing time recently because of injuries, so her coach Patrick Mouratoglou told Tennis Channel 2 that Osaka just needs to play more to get back into shape.
“She really needs to play matches. For the last six, eight months she has been injured a lot, so unfortunately she hasn’t been able to play enough,” Mouratoglou said.
“And we feel it’s the thing that she needs the most now, we had three weeks of intensive practice on clay, so she is ready to play. And now she has to play matches, I think that’s the thing she needs the most.”
Osaka is currently ranked No. 55 in the world, but is projected to move up to world No. 48 on Monday when the WTA Rankings are updated.