Coco Gauff Assists Naomi Osaka Off The Court After Back Injury Forces Forfeit

'I wish Naomi a speedy recovery.'

A competition couldn’t stop Coco Gauff from helping out an opponent when she had to bow out of a tennis match.

According to People, the young tennis phenom was engaged in a match against Naomi Osaka when her opponent had to retire from the match because of a back injury she suffered. When the game was awarded to Gauff, after sitting on a bench on her side of the court, Gauff was seen hugging and talking to Osaka as they both approached the referee. Instead of heading back to her bench, Gauff offers to help Osaka carry her bag and items into the locker room.

Osaka looked surprised that she offered and accepted as Gauff grabbed one of her bags and proceeded to walk side-by-side with her opponent off the tennis court.

Lending a helping hand 💜@CocoGauff helps her opponent off the court after Naomi Osaka is forced to retire due to a lower back injury.

Gauff advances to the #ChinaOpen quarterfinals with the score at 3-6, 6-4, RET. pic.twitter.com/ahm3pavauj

— wta (@WTA) October 1, 2024

This took place at the China Open on Oct. 1. With the forfeit, Gauff advances to the quarterfinals. The match was heading into the third set when Osaka had to leave due to the injury. Osaka took the first set with a 6–3 score, while Gauff rebounded and won the second 6–4.

Sports Illustrated reported that Gauff addressed the media, wished Osaka a speedy recovery, and admitted that her play wasn’t her “best tennis.”

“I wish Naomi a speedy recovery. Nobody wants to win a match like this, especially at one-set-all. Overall, I tried my best. It wasn’t my best tennis. I don’t know, it was just one of those matches where you’re trying your best each point.”

After the match, Osaka did address her fans via social media after the match and explained what happened on the court.

“Hi, everyone. I 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 😅.”