PICTURE: Naomi Osaka returns to gym training a day after concerning update about injury she suffered during Coco Gauff match

Naomi Osaka is back in the gym to regain her strength following her ill-fated campaign at the China Open last week. The former World No. 1 injured her lower back during a tough match against fourth-seeded Coco Gauff. She has since disclosed that the extent of her issue was more serious than she had initially thought.

Osaka has enjoyed a respectable year on the WTA Tour following a maternity break after her daughter Skai's birth in July 2023. The four-time Major winner has accumulated a 22-17 win/loss record and risen to as high as World No. 58 in the rankings, after having been well outside the WTA top 800 at the beginning of the season.

Naomi Osaka was in red-hot form at the WTA 1000 event in Beijing last month, as she picked up three back-to-back wins for the first time since May. Unfortunately for her, she aggravated a lower back injury against Coco Gauff in the Round of 16, which prompted her to retire at 6-3, 4-6.

Earlier this week, the 26-year-old expressed gratitude to her fans while giving them an injury update in multiple Instagram stories. She wrote:

"Hi everyone, just wanted to say I’m extremely thankful and happy to have played in Beijing. That being said I feel like I owe a little backstory about today- So I locked my back up during practice earlier and honestly wasn’t sure if I could even play but I just wanted to try, unfortunately things just got progressively worse during the match. Totally worth it though lol."

"It was worse than what I thought (I just have a high pain tolerance lol) and I'm trying my best to potentially play Tokyo but I'm still waiting to see what the doctor says."

Despite her injury, Osaka was back in the gym and worked on her fitness, and also shared some highlights on social media. She sported a blue t-shirt and burgundy leggings and had her headphones on, as she stood before a squat rack.

Via Naomi Osaka's Instagram stories

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Naomi Osaka on balancing family life with tennis: "I couldn’t be more proud of myself"

Naomi Osaka celebrates during her first-round win at US Open 2024

Naomi Osaka previously struggled with motivation when she was a top fixture in the women's game. However, she has seemingly turned a new page in her life and is happy to compete in any capacity.

Having dropped her second-round match at the 2024 US Open to Karolina Muchova, the 26-year-old later said on her social media that she was proud of her journey in both life and tennis. She was also hopeful of a deep run at the New York Major in the future as she wrote:

"Honestly I had typed out a whole caption about how I’m disappointed with myself etc but I’ve been sitting here playing with my daughter and I realized that I couldn’t be more proud of myself. I gave birth to such an amazing human and I played the US Open? A win is a win. Sure it didn’t work out this time but I have faith it will eventually. Thank you NY see you next time."

Naomi Osaka won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021 and the US Open in 2018 and 2020. She also spent 25 weeks as the top-ranked player on the WTA Tour in 2019.