PICTURE: Naomi Osaka treats fans to adorable childhood snap to celebrate 27th birthday, gives herself a big gift in honor of the occasion
Naomi Osaka celebrated her 27th birthday on October 16, and on the occasion, she shared a childhood photo of herself. The Japanese player, who has been suffering from a back injury, also shared a picture of herself on the court, calling it a "present" to herself.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka took to Instagram to share an adorable childhood photo in celebration of her 27th birthday. She captioned the post:
"27 🎀💕✨ grateful for another year and all the people I’ve met along the way. Thank you ❤️"
Meanwhile, in her Instagram stories, Osaka shared an image of a tennis court along with her kit bag. The Japanese is seemingly back in training after she injured her back during the China Open. She captioned the image,
"A birthday present from me to me"
Osaka was playing at a high level during the China Open and was aiming to win four consecutive matches for the first time since her return from maternity hiatus when she faced Coco Gauff in the fourth round. However, she had to retire before the deciding set due to a back injury. She revealed further details about the injury later.
Naomi Osaka shares concerning update about back injury
In the fourth round of the China Open, Naomi Osaka impressively won the first set 6-3 against Coco Gauff before the American forced a decider by winning the second set 6-4. However, the deciding set could not be played as the Japanese had to retire due to an injury.
After the match, Osaka took to her Instagram stories and wrote:
"Hi everyone, just wanted to say I’m extremely thankful and happy to have played in Beijing. That being said I feel like I owe a little backstory about today- So I locked my back up during practice earlier and honestly wasn’t sure if I could even play but I just wanted to try, unfortunately things just got progressively worse during the match. Totally worth it though lol."
Soon after, the 27-year-old withdrew from the Wuhan Open and the Japan Open. She is scheduled to participate in the Pan-Pacific Open in Tokyo from next week but, a few days ago, she shared a concerning update about her injury. During a Q&A on her Instagram, Osaka said:
"It [back injury] was worse than what I thought (I just have a high pain tolerance lol) and I'm trying my best to potentially play Tokyo but I'm still waiting to see what the doctor says."
Osaka has been off the court in recent weeks but with her seeming return to thtraining, according to her latest Instagram story, it remains to be seen if she will participate in the Pan Pacific Open which is scheduled for October 21-27.