8 Jan 2025

Dane Tauson claims 2025 ASB Classic Women's Week win after Osaka suffers injury in final

by ASB Classic
Dane Tauson claims 2025 ASB Classic Women's Week win after Osaka suffers injury in final

 

Danish fifth seed Clara Tauson has seen her perseverance rewarded with victory at the ASB Classic, after Japanese star Naomi Osaka was forced to withdraw from the final with injury. 

The result was a disappointing climax for a tournament that saw Kiwi favourite Lulu Sun beaten in the first round, then lost Belgian second seed Elise Mertens and former US Open winner Emma Raducanu to injury before they could take the court for their opening matches.

Tauson took the hard road to the final, taking the court three times on Saturday, as she completed a rain-suspended singles quarterfinal, navigating a semifinal and then required to return for an ill-fated doubles semi. 

Osaka jumped on her rival early, allowing her an initial service hold to start the match, then winning the next five games – including two breaks – to assume control of the first set. Right about then, the whole tone of the match seemed to change.

Clauson held serve, clawed back a break and held again for 5-4, but although Osaka successfully held for the set on second attempt, she seemed to lack the power she showed previously.

Upon returning to her courtside chair, she consulted coach Patrick Mouratoglou and sought medical attention for an apparent core injury. Osaka then informed the umpire and her opponent that her day was done.

With the Australian Open looming, the two-time Melbourne winner was understandably not prepare to risk further damage by pushing through her injury.

"I want to thank everyone for welcoming me to such a beautiful city," she said. "I had a lot of fun playing here and I'm really sorry about how it ended. 

"I hope you enjoyed the tennis we did play and I'm just really grateful to be here."

 For Tauson, the result represents a third WTA tournament victory in her fourth final, with the previous three all dating back to 2021.

"I'm really sorry about this final," she reflected. "Naomi was playing some great tennis today.

"It's the worst final I've ever played for me emotionally, because I can't fell happy and I'm just sad about what happened today.

 "Of course, when I process this, I'll be super happy about my week. I played a lot of tennis on this court and I'm happy that I won, but not really." 

All that court-time represents a perfect build-up for the year's first Grand Slam, where Tauson lost to Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in the second round 12 months ago. In 2022, she reached the third round.

Osaka was playing her first tournament final, since giving birth to daughter Shai in July 2023. 

Regardless of the outcome, both Tauson (50th) and Osaka (57th) should see their world rankings improve before the Australian Open begins.

"We had some tough matches this week, but I know we put the work in during the whole pre-season, so I wasn't really worried about playing three matches yesterday, because I knew I was in form and could play them all, and be ready for the final today.

"I'm happy that I played some great tennis this week."

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