Indian Wells, California - Women's tennis superstar Naomi Osaka withdrew from next month's Indian Wells Masters tournament, staying in line with a self-imposed break from tennis following her recent early exit at the 2021 US Open.

The tournament confirmed the former World number-one player's absence on Wednesday, via the tournament's official Twitter account.

The event is scheduled to take place finally from October 4-17, after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Osaka (23) last played earlier this month at the 2021 US Open, an event she's won twice, most recently in 2020.

She was in a position to take the match in the second set, but was outlasted by the 19-year-old Fernandez, who instead won the tiebreaker.

Osaka visibly lost her cool, throwing her racquet a few times and launching a ball into the crowd which resulted in a formal warning from the match's chair umpire.

Her title defense came to an end, 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 after two grueling hours.

During the post-match press conference, Osaka told reporters she planned to "take a break from playing for a while."

"I feel like… this is very hard to articulate. I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match. Sorry."

Osaka withdrew from the French Open in May after she was fined and threatened with further punishment and even getting kicked out of the grand slam for skipping obligatory media duties.

It all comes following a difficult stretch of time dealing with mental health concerns as a result of "long bouts of depression" since her first US Open title in 2018.

After pulling out of Wimbledon in July, she returned to tennis at the Olympic Games on her home soil in Tokyo, but suffered another surprise early exit.

Another unexpected loss followed at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where she was reduced to tears during a press conference after that match.

Including the Indian Wells tournament, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has 12 events remaining in 2021 and there's no indication that Osaka will appear at any of them.