Naomi Osaka was back home, spending her birthday with her family “in years” after withdrawing from the Wuhan Open. And rare moments of rest come with rare pieces of perspective. For Osaka, who is already a pretty contemplative person, her day seemed to have gone in a similar direction. Feeling “extremely emotional,” and penning a message on her 29th birthday, the Japanese player wrote about her early insecurities on Instagram. However, the ebbs and flows of her words ended up giving her fans a scare.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

“I’m extremely grateful for my life,” said Osaka. “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, 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 earlier in her career.

“My life is a blessing, I’m literally going to fly back home- see my beautiful daughter and spend my birthday with my family for the first time in years.”

But as a fan, you never know. Not when the athlete has hinted at retirement before and given a scare as well.

Fans Get a Retirement Scare With Naomi Osaka on Her Birthday

“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.”

One added: “My god I got scared for a sec. Happy birthday LEGEND.”

The reaction is perhaps understandable given that Osaka is approaching 30, an age at which some professional women tennis players have already left the tour — decisions shaped by a mix of physical, economic, and systemic pressures.

A 2022 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, using data from 811 players who reached the WTA singles top 150, found that the mean age at their last professional event was 27.98 years. A separate study of women who reached the top 10 found an average retirement age of 31.0 years.

But no, she is not retiring, not yet. After withdrawing from Wuhan, she indicated that she would compete in Tokyo, with the Pan Pacific Open scheduled for October 26 to November 1.

Still, 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.

Not the first time for fans

Last year, Osaka was in the midst of a bounce-back season on the tour when a decision of hers had fans confirming whether she was thinking of retiring. It was back in 2022 that she co-found a sports agency, Evolve, alongside her agent Stuart Duguid. But by the time December of 2025 rolled around, Osaka had decided to part ways with her own venture.

In an announcement, she began, “starting in the new year I’ll be parting ways with Evolve. It’s been a great run and I’m so grateful for all the memories shared” — which was enough for fans to do a double-take and read the entire message carefully without missing a beat.

Because just in August, she had already shared how she once held this mindset: “I was one of those people that thought when I had a kid I would stop playing tennis”. However, once Shai was in her arms, she felt different emotions flowing through her body, and returned to training just one week after she went into labor.

“While I was pregnant, I was kind of very inspired,” she shared with People. “I also wanted my daughter to be able to see me play tennis. It was such a big part of my life and I feel like she doesn’t know it, but she definitely inspired me to continue.”

At the same time, fans also remembered what she had said nearly eight months into her comeback from maternity leave. She had just ranked No.90 in the PIF WTA Rankings after starting her comeback in January ranked south of No.800. But her body didn’t feel like her own. The frustration, for Osaka, was unparalleled.

“I try to tell myself, ‘It’s fine you’re doing great. Just get through this one and keep pushing,’ mentally it’s really draining through. Internally, I hear myself screaming, ‘[W]hat the hell is happening?!?!’” she shared back then.

For a woman who was merely 20 when she won her first grand slam title by beating Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open final, learning how to be patient proved to be difficult. Going by her own words, she is not the kind of player who would “hang around” if she could not reach the ranking she believed she should achieve.

“I’d rather spend time with my daughter if I’m not where I think I should be and where I feel like I can be”.

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.

That said, 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 about 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.

Besides Osaka, other players have given fans such scares as well. 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.