Winning four Grand Slams, being the No. 1, and also being the highest- paid female athlete for three years running on Forbes, any player with this resume would have earned the right to celebrate for life. For Naomi Osaka, such an impressive resume still left her feeling not “good enough”. Penning an emotional and reflective message on her 29th birthday, the Japanese player spoke about her early insecurities, something that gave fans a different scare altogether.
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“I’m extremely grateful for my life,” said Osaka on Instagram. “To wake up every day with goals and dreams, to have all my family and friends be healthy and happy- I don’t think there’s much more I could wish for, I don’t think there’s much more I want to wish for.” Somehow every year without fail I become extremely emotional around my birthday; I’m fairly certain it might be because I’m reviewing my own life inside of my head. When I was younger, I used to think that I was always falling behind. My yearly life reviews would make me feel like everything I had accomplished wasn’t good enough, and I had to keep doing more.”
The wording of the message, especially the first few lines, understandably gave many Osaka fans the impression that the Japanese player was retiring from the sport altogether. However, the tone of this message is quite in line with Osaka’s recent outlook on her tennis career, which she talked about a little after her loss to Karolina Muchova in Beijing.
After a heartbreaking loss in Beijing, where Osaka blew multiple leads and lost despite saving multiple match points, the four-time Major champion had a soothing message for her fans who were distressed by her form. The former World No. 1 talked about how her handling of losses had gotten better compared to her early career.
Osaka has also been vocal about her motherhood duties in recent times. The former World No.1 has often talked about how her daughter, Shai, has been an inspiration to her, while also calling tennis a “side hustle” before this year’s US Open, emphasizing the importance of being a mother first.
This is not the first time that Osaka has spoken about her feelings on a public forum. Being a strong advocate of mental health herself, Osaka has always been open with her emotions and feelings, being one of the first tennis players who openly talked about taking a mental health break from the sport in 2021. The four-time Major champion has also been open about her insecurities. This topic came into the spotlight when she was working with Patrick Moratoglou last year, as Osaka admitted she was disappointed to have let the veteran coach down after her first-round loss at the 2025 French Open.
As for retirement scares, this is not the first time that fans have experienced with prominent tennis players. Social media is usually the medium of choice for players nowadays to announce their retirement decisions, and fans tend to read too much into a single message. Back at the 2024 Australian Open, former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka penned a “goodbye” message that sent fans into a frenzy, prompting speculation that the Belarusian was about to retire from the sport.
As it turned out, the message was only a normal end-of-tournament post from Azarenka, who played at the Qatar Open a few weeks later and played out the full season. However, as seen in Osaka’s message, fans are quick to jump to conclusions when their favorite player is in question.
Fans Get a Retirement Scare With Naomi Osaka on Her Birthday
Osaka’s message on her birthday might have been a reflective one, but that did not stop her fans from getting a retirement scare with the Japanese player. “Girl don’t scare us like this. Happy birthday “, said one fan.
Other fans had similar sentiments with one of them saying, “I thought this was a retirement,” while another said, “Literally scared me.”
Another fan said, “My god I got scared for a sec. Happy birthday LEGEND.”
One of the fans had a pretty strong response to Osaka’s message, but did not forget to send her wishes on her special day. “Naomi what’s wrong with you? You got me worried for a minute! Happy birthday! Have a wonderful celebration,” said the fan.
While the full draws have yet to be released, Osaka mentioned playing at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo after her Beijing loss. Playing in front of a home crowd will motivate the former champion to put her best foot forward and end her season strong.