"I actually thought I wasn't going to play for most of this year" - Naomi Osaka after winning on return to action
Naomi Osaka has admitted she thought she was not going to play for the majority of the 2022 season. The four-time Slam champion, who made a winning return to the tour in Melbourne, also revealed her love of the sport resurfaced during the off-season when she spent time with family and friends.
Osaka took a break last season from professional tennis to prioritize her mental health.
Top seed Osaka defeated World No. 61 Alize Cornet 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the opening round of the Melbourne Summer Set 1 WTA 250 tournament. It was the 24-year-old's first match since losing to Leylah Fernandez in the third round of the US Open in September 2021.
The Japanese star announced she would be taking an indefinite break from tennis following her exit in New York. Osaka will face World No. 82 Maryna Zanevska in the second round in Melbourne on Thursday.
She's back! ☺️
@naomiosaka clinches her first match back in four months, with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Cornet in Melbourne.
#MelbourneTennis https://t.co/YDJAREjJAx
In a press conference after beating Cornet, Osaka explained how she benefitted from the time away. She declared that her love of the sport started to return during her off-season.
"During the off-season I just hung out with my friends and talked to my family a lot," Osaka said. "I felt like that was a way of decompressing the pressure I had on myself. Then I just slowly started to regain the feeling of love that I had towards the game."
"It’s not like it ever completely went away, but I felt like it got overshadowed by a lot of emotions that I was feeling just by constantly playing year after year since I was like - I started tennis when I was three years old, and I never really took a break," Osaka continued. "Yeah, sometimes it’s just good to remember why you’re playing."
The World No. 13 also revealed she expected her break from tennis to last far longer than it did.
"Honestly, it was much shorter than I anticipated," Osaka added. "I actually really thought I wasn’t going to play for most of this year. I think that I’m actually really - I don’t think ‘proud’ is the right word, but I’m really happy with myself that I love the sport that much, because I literally said that I was unsure when I was going to play after the US Open, and I’m here right now, and that’s what I did like two years ago. Honestly, I’m on the same schedule as I was, like this is a normal schedule for me."
"I feel like whenever I come here, it’s like a breath of fresh air" - Naomi Osaka on Australia
Defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka spoke of the positivity she feels whenever she arrives in Australia at the beginning of a season.
"I feel like whenever I come here, or come back here at the start of the year, it’s like a breath of fresh air," Osaka said. "Everyone is super, super nice. The vibes here are really good. And I think that no one wants to start the year off bad, so of course my intention is to do well here."
The former World No. 1 had also triumphed at the Melbourne Slam in 2019. She pinpointed the importance of gaining more match practice ahead of the year's first Major.
"But you’re playing the best players in the world, and for me I also feel like I need to play matches right now," Osaka added. "I haven’t played that many matches. Hopefully I get more into the groove of things."