🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
The whereabouts of tennis star Naomi Osaka appears to be the question on the lips of many as the Australian Open is set to begin.
The two-time women's champion in Melbourne is seemingly everywhere except where the tournament organizers are expecting her to be.
The Australian Open is the tennis season opener and is due to start on January 16, which has meant that those in the draw have arrived in the country to prepare for the Grand Slam tournament.
Osaka, 25, is on the list to be competing in the tournament but recent posts on social media have shown that she has been in Europe and is now in Los Angeles.
The former world number one, who won at Melbourne Park in 2019 and 2021, is showing no signs of preparing for the tournament and this week was tagged on Instagram at a pilates studio in suburban L.A. when she was expected to be in Australia.
Before that, Osaka looked like she was taking in some culture in France as she posted a photo on Instagram of herself with partner, rapper Cordae, 25, sitting by the Mona Lisa.
She captioned the post from Paris: "Europe."
In the past 24 hours, Osaka has been celebrating that she has signed women's world number two, 28-year-old Tunisian Ons Jabeur, to her sports management company, Evolve.
There has been some worry among tennis officials that four-time grand slam winner Osaka may not return to a court at all, as Australian Open organizers start resigning themselves to the possibility that she will not show for the tournament.
In 2021, Osaka sat out the French Open as she took a break from the sport for her mental health, later revealing that she had been struggling with anxiety and depression and that was something she had been suffering for years.
Osaka has barely played tennis in recent months and withdrew from a second round game in Tokyo with abdominal pains, in September 2022.
She has only completed one game since May 2022, and has not won a first round game in her previous three events, which included the U.S. Open.
The tennis season opener will be missing a number of big names, with Osaka looking likely to be a non-starter.
Australian favorite Ash Barty, 26, shocked the tennis world by retiring from the sport in March 2022, so will not be defending her title.
She has been joined by legends Serena Williams and Roger Federer, both 41, who also quit the game last year.
One star who has returned though is the nine-time men's champion, 35-year-old Novak Djokovic. He missed the tournament in 2022 due to his visa being revoked after he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The draw for the tournament takes place next Thursday with Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz 19, being the top seed on the men's side while Poland's world number one, Iga Swiatek, 21, will take the top slot in the women's draw.
Do you have a tip on a sports story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about tennis? Let us know via entertainment@newsweek.com.
