Osaka takes wild card to Saint-Malo 125; to face Parry in Round 2
Note: This article was originally published on April 25. The Saint-Malo draw is now out, and Naomi Osaka View Profile will face 19-year-old Croatian Petra Marcinko View Profile in the first round. She is projected to face No. 6 seed Olivia Gadecki View Profile in the quarterfinals and No. 4 seed Caroline Dolehide View Profile in the semifinals. Notable names in the top half of the draw include No. 1 seed McCartney Kessler, No. 7 seed Viktorija Golubic View Profile and rising French teenager Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah View Profile . Click here to view the full draw.
Meanwhile, next week's Vic WTA 125 event also features a former major champion -- Bianca Andreescu View Profile , who faces No. 4 seed Kimberly Birrell View Profile in the first round. Andreescu is in the same half of the draw as No. 2 seed Lulu Sun View Profile and No. 6 seed Maya Joint View Profile . Former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez View Profile is the No. 1 seed, while former doubles No. 1 Storm Hunter returns to action for the first time in over a year following an Achilles injury.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka View Profile will play a WTA 125 tournament for the first time in a decade after she accepted a wild card into next week's L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo.
The tournament announced Naomi Osaka View Profile as a late addition in a social media post on Thursday, saying the former World No. 1 is ready to "make some noise" in her debut.
After a lengthy training block on clay in France with her coach Patrick Mouratoglou -- during which she confessed to the Tennis Majors website that she felt "stronger" and was "ready to grind it out if [she] had to" -- Osaka lost in the first round of the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday to Italy's Lucia Bronzetti View Profile in three sets, her first match action in a month after losing in the fourth round of the Miami Open to Paolini.
WTA rules allow players ranked No. 11 or lower to compete in a WTA 125 event during the second week of a Grand Slam or mandatory WTA 1000 tournament, provided they have already been eliminated from the latter.
Osaka was runner-up at a WTA 125 event in Hua Hin, Thailand in November of 2015, when she was an 18-year-old ranked No. 203. That was her only previous appearance at a WTA 125 tournament. But she has made the decision to reappear at the level in search of more consistent match play on a surface she has yet to master.
Osaka has posted a 9-5 match record this season but is just 3-3 since January after an abdominal injury forced her to retire from both the ASB Classic final (against Clara Tauson View Profile ) and the Australian Open fourth round (against Belinda Bencic View Profile ).
🎾🌟 Naomi Osaka View Profile à Saint-Malo !
— L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo (@LOPEN35STMALO) April 24, 2025
La quadruple championne reçoit une wild card pour l’Open 35 !
Ancienne n°1 mondiale, elle foulera la terre battue malouine… et ça va faire du bruit 🔥
🎟️ https://t.co/eDA2fIYtdZ#open35 #WTA #osaka pic.twitter.com/U9jLrqb9FZ
Main-draw play in Saint-Malo begins on Monday. Ranked No. 55, Osaka is expected to be the No. 2 seed in Saint-Malo behind No. 53 Alycia Parks View Profile . Also in the field are No. 1 Varvara Gracheva View Profile , Americans Caroline Dolehide View Profile and Katie Volynets View Profile and former Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria View Profile .
Since the tournament’s elevation to WTA 125 status in 2021, past champions have included Beatriz Haddad Maia View Profile and Sloane Stephens, while Jasmine Paolini View Profile finished as runner-up in the inaugural edition.
