Naomi Osaka got a wildcard to compete at Indian Wells. Her rankings have dropped out of the Top 75 after a year of dismal results. She won the tournament in 2018.

Since winning the Indian Wells title in 2018, Naomi Osaka won four grand slam titles – two Australian Open titles and two US Open titles. But since winning the 2021 Australian Open, her best grand slam result has been reaching the third round.

Naomi Osaka also took a break from the sport in 2021 for mental health reasons. She  missed Wimbledon and missed many tournaments.

Tennis can be a brutal sport. If players don’t have good results in the past 12 months, they can’t qualify for major tournaments. Either they need to go through the qualifying rounds or need a wild card from the tournament.