Naomi Osaka has not ended her 2026 season in the way that she would have wanted at the Tokyo Open.
Osaka elected to enter her final tournament of the year in front of her home Japanese fans at the Tokyo Open, where she is a former champion.
The four-time Grand Slam champion made a strong start to the tournament after beating Jasmine Paolini in a tricky opener.
However, Osaka’s tournament quickly unravelled, as she was beaten in the second round by teenager Mia Pohankova.
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Naomi Osaka loses to Mia Pohankova in surprise Tokyo exit
Pohankova is currently the world number 144 and required a wildcard to get into the Tokyo Open main draw this year.
The Slovakian may be ranked outside the top 140, but Pohankova is a former Wimbledon junior champion and has already climbed nearly 400 places in the rankings this year as she transitions to the WTA Tour.
Pohankova will only keep rising up the rankings after beating Osaka 6-3, 7-5 in her first ever top 20 win. While this is the highest-ranked win of Pohankova’s career, for Osaka it is the lowest-ranked loss she has suffered since being beaten by a returning Belinda Bencic at the 2025 Australian Open.
That match ended by retirement, with the last time Osaka lost a completed match to a player lower-ranked than Pohankova being when she was beaten by the now-retired Angelique Kerber at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
After winning the biggest match of her career so far, Pohankova explained how proud of herself she was in the on-court interview.
“I am really proud of myself,” said Pohankova. “It is the first time I have played against such a hard player and I feel really, really good.”
Pohankova continued, “I was watching her when I was younger and I was watching her win the Grand Slams, and now I am playing against her. I think it’s a dream and I’m really, really happy.”
“…Yes, it is a difficult level, this year I started the women’s. And also I wanted to thank for this opportunity to play this tournament because my ranking is not able to get in the main draw…but I try to do my best every day on the court.”
Pohankova’s latest win now boosts her up to world number 132 in the live rankings, as she now gears up to face qualifier Alycia Parks.
Naomi Osaka’s full 2026 season of results
Osaka’s second round loss to Pohankova officially wraps up her 2026 season, in what has been a mixed year in terms of on-court results for the former world number one.
It is another year for Osaka without a title, with her last tournament win coming at the 2021 Australian Open. The closest Osaka came to winning a title this year came on the grass of the Bad Homburg Open, where she reached the final before retiring against Karolina Muchova due to a foot injury.
Osaka has achieved her greatest career successes on hard courts, but the natural surfaces were a real source of success for the Japanese player, highlighted by her victory over Aryna Sabalenka en route to reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time.
| Tournaments Naomi Osaka has played in 2026 | Result |
| United Cup | Round-robin (1-1) |
| Australian Open | Third Round |
| Indian Wells | Fourth Round |
| Miami Open | Second Round |
| Madrid Open | Fourth Round |
| Italian Open | Fourth Round |
| Roland Garros | Fourth Round |
| Bad Homburg Open | Final |
| Wimbledon | Quarter-final |
| Washington Open | Semi-final |
| Canadian Open | Quarter-final |
| US Open | Fourth Round |
| China Open | Fourth Round |
| Tokyo Open | Second Round |
Wimbledon had traditionally been a tournament Osaka had struggled at, but it was actually the Grand Slam where she achieved her best performance after losing before the quarter-final stage at both the Australian Open and the US Open.
Osaka began the season as the world number 16, before achieving her peak ranking of the year (No.13) after Wimbledon, but she is currently set to finish the year as the world number 17, depending on other results.
