Naomi Osaka wins first title in four years at WTA 125 in Saint Malo

Naomi Osaka is back in the winners’ circle for the first time in four years after capturing the title at L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo, a WTA 125 event in France.

Playing in her first ever clay-court final, Osaka took down Kaja Juvan in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5 to claim the victory on Sunday. The No. 2 seed took down a trio of French opponents—Leolia Jeanjean, Elsa Jacquemot and Diane Parry—and only dropped one set on her way to the title.

Read More: “Motivated” Naomi Osaka reaches semifinals at WTA 125 in Saint-Malo

The four-time Grand Slam winner didn’t face an opponent ranked inside the Top 100. But for Osaka, winning five matches in a row on a challenging surface should come as a welcome confidence boost, as she lifted her first trophy since the 2021 Australian Open.

"Kinda ironic to win my first trophy back on the surface that I thought was my worst," Osaka later shared on X. "That’s one of my favorite things about life though, there’s always room to grow and evolve.

"Thanks to everyone accompanying me on this journey, I know it’s turbulent but it’s also really fun and I’m grateful."

Osaka is set to return to the WTA’s Top 50 on Monday as a result, another milestone in her comeback from maternity leave after giving birth to daughter Shai in July 2023. Having previously taken time off to care for her mental health, Osaka returned to tennis in 2024 with renewed motivation in search of her best tennis.

“I’ve never been a person that’s really good for playing for myself, if that makes sense," Osaka said in 2023 after announcing return to tennis. "I kind of like the responsibility and the feeling of having to take care of Shai and wanting to show her around the world. I feel more like I’m playing for her.”

After suffering a heartbreaker at last week’s Madrid Open, where she lost 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to Lucia Bronzetti, Osaka announced she was taking a last-minute wild card into the WTA 125 event in Saint-Malo. One rung below the WTA Tour and above ITF events in terms of prestige, Osaka traveled to France in search of more match play.

Read More: After first-round Madrid loss, Naomi Osaka takes wild card to WTA 125 in France

Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou told Tennis Channel 2’s Second Serve earlier this week, “the thing she needs the most” is to build up match fitness and regain momentum after seeing Osaka’s progress repeatedly halted due to injury.

“We decided to play a smaller tournament this week, we are in Saint-Malo in France,” Mouratoglou told hosts Tracy Austin, Sloane Stephens, Nick Monroe and Geoff Chizever.

“She really needs to play matches. For the last six to eight months she has been injured a lot, so unfortunately she hasn’t been able to play enough.

“We feel it’s the thing that she needs the most now. We had three weeks of intensive practice on clay, so she is ready to play.”

Osaka is next scheduled to compete at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, a WTA 1000 in Rome that kicks off on May 6.