‘I didn’t ultimately enjoy it’: Naomi Osaka’s sister Mari, who champ said was ‘up by like a million’ against her, retires aged 24

Mari Osaka, the low-ranked sister of four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, has announced her retirement from professional tennis, candidly admitting that she didn’t “enjoy” her unspectacular career on the court.

The 24-year-old, who has always been in the shadow of her superstar sister’s success in the sport, explained that she wants to concentrate on projects away from the game. 

 “I am retired from playing tennis,” Mari wrote on Instagram. “But I’m grateful for all the memories and support I’ve gained and received over the years from the sport.

"I’m moving on now so you can look forward to new fun projects upcoming in the future.”

The elder Osaka has played most of her career on the ITF circuit and never managed to climb higher than 280th in the rankings.

World number two Naomi Osaka had previously said that her sister was much stronger at tennis than her when they were younger.

“Up until I was 15, she was 6-0-ing me, ridiculous,” Naomi said.

“I don't know what happened, maybe finally something clicked in my head, but for sure she was beating me. In the win-loss record, she's up by like a million or something.”