Mari, the player ranked 340th in the world, has reached the peak of his career at 280 on the global rankings in 2018. The last time she participated in the single competition was in January in an ITF tournament in Georgia, USA, and lost to opponent Sarah Hamner in the first match of the qualifying round.
Mari used to play with her sister Naomi, 18 months younger than her, at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, in 2017. Mari's younger sister was a world -ranked player, defending the US championship expanded and Australia expanded.
“I quit playing tennis,” Mari wrote on Instagram. “It was a journey that I was no longer interested in but I was grateful for all the memories and support that I received all years thanks to it.”
“I will continue and you can expect my interesting projects in the future,” she added.
Mari also plays an important role in her sister's career. Last year, she helped produce a manga (Japanese comics) simulating the image of Naomi on a teenage girl magazine.
“When I was 15 years old, she could still easily win me 6-0,” Naomi shared about her sister. “I don't know what happened … But she certainly defeated me. About the winning, she was millions of times more than me.”
Naomi has repeatedly expressed hope to be able to attend more events with her sister. “For me, it's a dream,” she shared. “Because I do not communicate with many people and she is more kind in the relationship between the two of us. So, this certainly has many meanings.”
However, Mari has a different view of the matches between the two sisters. “Sometimes, I think she deliberately loses so we can finish training faster,” she said. “So when she started her real effort, I was very upset.”
Naomi Osaka won the fourth Grand Slam title after defeating American tennis player Jennifer Brady in the final of the Australian expansion last month.
