WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka says she won’t “hang around” in tennis if her results fail to match her high expectations.
The 27-year-old Japanese player will play her first match since she suffered a back injury in the China Open in October at the ASB tennis classic in Auckland on Monday.
Osaka told a pre-tournament news conference in Auckland on Sunday she was “humbled” by her form in 2024 in which she picked up her professional career after an almost 15 month break for the birth of her first child. She ended the season ranked 58.
“I don’t think I’m the type of player that would hang around,” Osaka told reporters. “I have a lot of respect for all the players on tour, but the point of my life that I’m at right now, if I’m not above a certain ranking, I don’t see myself playing for a while.
“I’d rather spend time with my daughter if I’m not where I think I should be and where I feel like I can be.”
Osaka had a 22-17 win-loss singles record in 2024, reaching the quarterfinals at Doha and at s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
“I think 2024 humbled me, but I also feel like I grew a lot,” she said. “I worked way harder than I’ve ever worked before. So in that, I guess it was very painful to not get the results I wanted, but I feel like I’m growing and learning and I am really excited for this year (2025).
“I played really good matches. People still talk to me about my Iga (Swiatek) match at the French Open (lost 7-6 1-6 7-5). So I’m glad that I was able to give people memories as well.
“Even though I got injured in Beijing, which was my last tournament, I feel pretty optimistic about how that match would have turned out (against Coco Gauff) and I am excited to play on hardcourt again.”
Osaka won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021 and the US Open in 2018 and 2020. She says she still has a deep love for tennis, despite recent injury setbacks.
“I’ve been playing tennis since I was three, and a huge part of that I owe to my parents, but I never really saw my life doing anything else,” she said. “Then, when I sat there and had the opportunity to do other things, I realized that I’d rather be playing tennis.
“So it was kind of one of those realization moments where you feel like you thought you were forced to do something, but in actuality you very much truly loved it.”
Osaka will play Lina Glushko of Israel in the first round of the ASB Classic.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
