Naomi Osaka is about to make her return to tennis after 15 months. The four-time Grand Slam champion had taken a hiatus from professional tennis in 2022 to give birth to her first child. However, this hiatus wasn’t her first time away from tennis. In 2021, the star announced that she was stepping back for a while to focus on her mental health, claiming tennis wasn’t making her happy at the moment.
Now, a day before her comeback match against Tamara Korpatsch at the Brisbane International, Naomi Osaka has revealed she’s found her love for the game once again. And Carlos Alcaraz has inspired her to fall in love with the game once again.
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The star player was asked in the pre-match press conference at the Brisbane International if her love for tennis had rekindled. “Do you feel like you’ve found that love for the game?”
To which Naomi Oaska said, “Oh, yeah.”
The reporter continued, “Do you feel having the time away, you’ve allowed yourself to fall back in love with it or find the love for it you may have never had?”
To this, Naomi Osaka replied, “Definitely. Of course, I’m not going to sit here and say that I’ve never loved tennis. Of course, I loved it. I think after a certain point, I just felt more relieved to win, if that makes sense. It was a little hard dealing with that. Instead of being happy to win, I felt more relief. I think for me, just having this time away watching other players, appreciating them a lot. I remember watching Wimbledon, watching Alcaraz going to the court, and practicing drop shots because I’m going to play like drop shots like he does (smiling).
I guess in a way, being a kid again, being inspired by other players, wanting to play on the big courts.”
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