The world of tennis waited with bated breath for Naomi Osaka’s comeback.
There were moments during her time away from the game when fans anxiously wondered whether they had seen the last of the former World No. 1 on a competitive tennis court.
Osaka didn’t play last year’s Australian Open and later revealed she was pregnant. She and her partner, rapper Cordae, became parents to daughter Shai in July.
More than a tennis player
Given her interests outside of tennis — she is an entrepreneur with several business interests, a self-confessed “fashion nerd” who debuted a collection she co-designed at the New York Fashion Week, and a social change advocate with a strong track record — the thought of her walking away from the game in her mid-20s was not implausible.
Just as significantly, Osaka had spoken in the past about struggling with her mental health. She withdrew from Roland-Garros 2021 after the bitter fallout from her decision to boycott all media activity at the Grand Slam, revealing that she had “suffered long bouts of depression” and that certain lines of questioning adversely impacted her mental health. She had spoken, too, of being “spent physically” and of how her “joy went away for the sport”.
Why would Osaka want to return to the all-consuming world of professional tennis? Having already scaled the peaks — she is one of three players in the Open Era, Monica Seles and Roger Federer the others, to have won their first four Major finals — did she have the motivation?
The 26-year-old answered both questions at the Brisbane International, her first tournament back. She won her first match since late 2022, in straight sets against Tamara Korpatsch, and showed enough in her three-set defeat to Karolina Pliskova, another former World No. 1, to suggest that her preparations for the Australian Open were on track.
The birth of Shai, she said, had given her new purpose and fuelled her comeback. “Giving birth was one of the most painful things I’ve ever gone through. It’s definitely made me feel like physically I can handle a lot,” she said. “I want to show Shai that she’s capable of everything, so that’s one of my main purposes why I want to be back out here. She has affected my goals in a positive way. I think I want to achieve a lot more and I feel like it’s better to have big goals and achieve half of them rather than set little goals and surpass what you’ve dreamed of.”
Osaka said she was excited for “chapter two of this tennis journey”. “I consider this a second chapter. Even stepping on the court is a personal win because a couple of weeks ago I was even doubting if I could play with everyone. So I guess these two matches that I’ve had kind of prove to me that I am doing OK, and the year is just going to get better.”
A better perspective
Becoming a mother has also given her a better perspective, helping her deal with the pressures of top-flight tennis. It has sharpened her focus on living in the moment.
“It’s a big change overnight. [Shai] has helped me grow up so much so quickly. On the court it’s just helping me be strong and staying in the moment more. A part of me feels like Shai [is] watching me. I want to do my best for her,” she said.
“Off the court I appreciate people a lot more — even my opponents. I feel like I’m more confident with who I am as a person. I never tried to have conversations with other players before, and I think I definitely put a large wall up. Now I find myself interacting with people.
“I think I’m a lot more open-minded and a lot more patient. But also I feel a lot stronger, I don’t know physically, but I think Shai definitely helped me with the way I view things. The last couple years that I played before I had my daughter, I didn’t return as much love as I was given. So I really feel like that’s what I want to do in this chapter.”
Osaka also felt her attitude to winning and losing — “When I win, I don’t feel happy. I feel more like relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad,” she once said — had changed. “I’ve trained so hard since giving birth, I need to enjoy these moments… Of course I feel sad, but the sadness is me being like, ‘Aww, I wish I could have done better, because I’m spending so much time away from her [Shai], so I want it to be worth it somehow.’”
Osaka’s return has the potential to alter the competitive shape of the women’s game. Iga Swiatek’s dominance, in the post-Ash Barty period, has been challenged by Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff. Osaka has the game to beat anybody on her day — even if she takes time to reach a high level consistently, she’s still a dangerous X-factor in any draw.
A difference-maker
“She has such a huge game, huge shots. I think having the mindset, the will and the shots, she can really do some damage,” Patrick Mouratoglou, former coach of Serena Williams, told Eurosport. “She will be ready for the Australian Open. She will just lack matches. So we’ll know quite fast if she’s able to be competitive immediately or if she will need a bit more time to become competitive. But I feel she will be competitive straight away.”
The Australian Open, where she is a two-time champion and owns a 24-5 (83% win-rate) record, may be too soon to expect a deep run. But there is no doubt that her presence will increase the starpower in Melbourne next week.
“[Her return] is the best news for women’s tennis,” said Mouratoglou. “The WTA needs superstars. We had so many great years with Serena and Venus [Williams] and Maria Sharapova, who are three really huge stars. It draws a lot of attention to women’s tennis when you have players like that. So I’m very excited that Naomi comes back. I think she’s great.”
Osaka feels “pretty good where I am right now” in terms of her game — this early in her comeback, however, she is still taking baby steps. But like she said after her first win back in Brisbane, compared to the challenge of getting a newborn to sleep, closing out a tennis match is just that tad easier.
