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

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Meanwhile, next week's Vic WTA 125 event also features a former major champion -- Bianca Andreescu

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Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka

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The tournament announced Naomi Osaka

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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

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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

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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

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Since the tournament’s elevation to WTA 125 status in 2021, past champions have included Beatriz Haddad Maia

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