Tauson clinch Auckland title as Osaka retires

Clara Tauson of Denmark won her third career Hologic WTA Tour title, and first since 2021, after former World No.1 Naomi Osaka of Japan retired from their ASB Classic final on Sunday due to an abdominal injury.

Osaka held off a late Tauson comeback to clinch the first set 6-4, but the four-time Grand Slam champion took an immediate medical time-out after converting her second set point. After consulting with the trainer, Osaka ended play.

“It’s not the way you want to win any match, and especially not the final,” Tauson said after the match. “I felt like I had some more tennis to show today.”

It was a quick conclusion to the first meeting between two powerful players, both of whom had ended droughts just to get into this final. Osaka was playing in her first final since 2022, while Tauson had waited even longer, contesting her first tour-level final since 2021.

Tauson is the first player from Denmark to win this title. Her fellow Dane, former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, was a two-time runner-up at this event in 2015 and 2018.

“I’m looking forward to going to Australia,” Tauson said. “Hopefully I can back [this] up with some great results there. It’s definitely a nice start to the season with the title, it’s my first one since 2021, so it’s been a while for me.”

In the doubles, No.2 seeds Jiang Xinyu and Wu Fang-Hsien took home the doubles title after defeating Sabrina Santamaria and Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-4.