MELBOURNE -- Belinda Bencic advanced to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open after former No.1 Naomi Osaka retired from their third-round encounter due to injury after losing the first set 7-6(3). Playing in her first Grand Slam since giving birth to her daughter Bella, Bencic is into her first Round of 16 at a major since the 2023 US Open.

Before walking off the court, Bencic signed the camera "Get well soon, Mama."

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Facing each other for the first time since the 2022 Miami Open, Osaka built a 5-3 lead in the opening set when she noticeably began to alter her service motion to compensate for her discomfort. Bencic broke serve and held before Osaka took a medical timeout to assess the injury. Bencic played a disciplined tiebreak to take it 7-3 after 57 minutes. 

Osaka slowly walked to her chair before deciding to retire. Osaka began her 2025 season by making the final at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. There, Osaka won the first set over Clara Tauson before abruptly retiring due to an abdominal injury. Osaka has been forced to retire from her last three tournaments, having finished her 2024 season at the China Open with a back injury against Coco Gauff. 

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"It was a little hectic trying to manage [the abdominal injury], because obviously my draw was quite tough," Osaka said. "But we were also doing everything we could, like I was going to therapy every day and stuff like that into the night. So the days have been very long for me. Obviously after my last match it got way worse. So credit to her for being such a good opponent.

"But yeah, it was just, I guess, a little inevitable, but I think the competitor in me just wanted to see it through until the end."

Bencic, an Olympic gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, is playing her third tour-level event since returning to competition in October. After a successful run through a series of ITF events and a final at the WTA 125 in Angers, France to end the year, she opened the 2025 season with the first WTA win of her comeback at the United Cup. She built on that success by making the Round of 16 at the Adelaide International a week later. 

"If we wouldn't have gotten into the United Cup as Team Switzerland, I would even consider maybe not even playing here in Australia just yet," Bencic said, "because I just would think it's too early maybe. But I'm happy we came here."

Bencic, 27, will face World No.3 Coco Gauff in the fourth round. The Swiss star is bidding to make her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2021 US Open. It would be a remarkable result given where she was 12 months ago.

"Obviously [Coco is] one of the best players in the world right now," Bencic said. "I was able to watch her a little bit when I was just lying on the couch for the last nine months."

"Of course, it's about winning. That's why we're here. But at this moment, I still like call this a little bit as a test. I came here to see how it's going to be. Obviously I didn't expect to be in the fourth round. So I'm not going to change my expectations based on the result here."