Life has a way of surprising us. When Naomi Osaka entered the WTA 125 tournament in Saint-Malo, it was widely seen as a step down. After all, it was her first event at such a low level since 2015, when she was still a teenage up-and-comer ranked outside the Top 200. But what looked like a downgrade turned into a breakthrough, as the four-time Grand Slam champion claimed her first title as a mother, and her first-ever on clay.
Competing as a wildcard at the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo in France, the second-seeded Osaka powered past Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan 6-1 7-5 in the final, capturing her first title since the 2021 Australian Open—and her first since becoming a mother in July 2023.