In finding her way back, Naomi Osaka has managed to stir up some chatter. The Grand Slam hopes are back in conversation as she moved up from no. 57 to 16, while the glimpses of her form continue to cement beliefs. The three-set thriller at the Wuhan Open was yet another showing of that.

The 4x Grand Slam champion faced 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the first round of the last WTA 1000 event. After dropping her first set, Osaka clawed her way back to beat her opponent 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. It marked the seventh time this season that the 27-year-old has managed to force such a comeback, according to WTA. In the process, she thundered down 9 aces to Fernandez’s 4, winning 69% of her first-serve points and amassing 104 total points across a punishing contest. Her serve held strong through 67 service games. But something was amiss for the spectators. 

Osaka began the match with a double fault and added six more in the second set that threatened her lead. Fernandez had managed to mount a comeback with every opening while her opponent struggled on service. It would take Osaka a 10-minute heat break to strengthen her hold over the game. 

Only in the final set did she race to a 3-0 and 4-1 lead, and secure a 33rd victory of the season for herself. That marked a first win for Osaka in Wuhan and an opportunity to even the score 1-1 against Fernandez, who had handed her a defeat at the 2021 US Open. Call it a proving ground for the champion who made it all the way to the US Open semi-finals this year.

But it wasn’t the wins that the fans noticed; it was the flaws.

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Apart from Osaka’s set in itself, the spectators were no fans of her demeanour. Criticism has often followed her, more popularly in the instance involving Victoria Mboko, whose win she had failed to acknowledge as an opponent at the Canadian Open.

Smiles and giggles aren’t her thing either when she is focused on getting those Ws. “I know in my first round I was too nervous to smile, and my (third-round) match against (Daria) Kasatkina was just really not smiley at all,” Osaka had said after the initial rounds of her 2025 US Open campaign. “I think, honestly, I could have had a better attitude. Like, I was just very stressed… I wish I thought more about the process rather than the result.”

When something similar popped up in the Wuhan Open, fans latched on to it. It was enough to mar the fact that she had clinched a 12th win in the last 15 of her matches.

Naomi Osaka’s flaws called out at the Wuhan Open

Despite the grit and numbers, fans took to social media to dissect her revamped gameplay, questioning her form and tactical shifts. “Osaka looks like doesn’t even want to be in the match. Doesn’t try to move to some shots. Weird,” one expressed. 

Contrary to the sentiment though, Osaka says she is focused on delivering the best she can. She would rather retire than see no improvement in her game. So far, there appear to be no signs for the same. The 27-year-old has managed to make it to the Canada Open finals and the US Open semifinals just this year.

Rick Macci, who has worked with the likes of Serena Williams, even said that Osaka would go ‘from pretender to contender at every event and the Majors.’ But fans are not buying into it. “Overrated and boring. Keys better,” another wrote, drawing a comparison to American Madison Keys. 

Well, with 4,450 points, Keys has fetched herself a spot in the WTA Finals, while Osaka ranked no.16 going into Wuhan. So speaking of recognition, Keys deserves every bit. But it isn’t just about the game and stats for the spectators.

“Not even a little smile or a little fist pump from Naomi, was she channelling Rybakina?” one fan asked, referencing Elena Rybakina’s stoic demeanor who recently lost to Eva Lys in Beijing in R32. For what it’s worth though, Osaka did give a nod and shake Fernandez’s hand following the game, albeit without a smile. 

Critics piled on relentlessly. “She’s just not exciting this year,” wrote another, while one particularly harsh voice added, “Most overrated and boring athlete of all time.” 

Osaka hasn’t been able to replicate her Grand Slam success since 2021. However, she has managed to make her presence felt at US Open and Wimbledon after admitting to body image struggles and postpartum depression just a year ago. The 27-year-old has also parted ways with Patrick Mouratoglou to team up with Tomasz Wiktorowski, Iga Swiatek’s former coach, in hopes of getting back to her form. If nothing works out, Osaka says she will exit even before fingers are pointed.