Naomi Osaka backed to get ‘better and better’ and ‘do big damage’ by former WTA star

Ewan West 09 Jan 2024 9:06 PM

Naomi Osaka reacts celebrates in Brisbane

Former world No 7 Barbara Schett has backed Naomi Osaka to get “better and better” and “do some big damage again” in her comeback ahead of the 2024 Australian Open.

The three-time WTA Tour titlist also admitted she was surprised Osaka withdrew from her planned exhibition match against Emma Raducanu.

Osaka made her return to tennis last week at the 2024 Brisbane International, where she defeated Tamara Korpatsch before losing to Karolina Pliskova in three sets in the second round.

The former world No 1, who is ranked 833rd in the WTA Rankings, had not competed since the WTA tournament in Tokyo in September 2022.

The Japanese gave birth to her daughter Shai in July 2023. Two weeks later, the 26-year-old star was already training to prepare for her comeback.

Osaka is a two-time champion at both the Australian Open (2019 and 2021) and US Open (2018 and 2020). She has won seven WTA titles overall, including two WTA 1000 events.

The four-time Grand Slam champion was due to face 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu in an exhibition match on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday, but both players withdrew.

Speaking to Eurosport, Schett explained she was excited by Osaka’s return in Brisbane and believes the Japanese will return to the top of the game in time.

“When I watched her, she’s just going to get better and better. And she’s one of those women coming back from pregnancy who has the power, and the power is good in women’s tennis nowadays,” the Austrian said.

“So I think if she stays fit and healthy, and she hangs in there as well after a few losses – probably we have to give her a little bit of time – she can definitely do some big damage again in the future.”

The 47-year-old, a commentator and analyst, also expressed her surprise at Osaka’s exhibition withdrawal, but suggested it was precautionary after her tough battle with Pliskova last week.

“I’m a little bit surprised because it would have been one more match for her to play to get ready before she hits the Australian Open,” Schett added.

“But we know that in Brisbane she had a very tough match against Karolina Pliskova which went the distance and if you haven’t played for a long time, she needs some time to recover and get used to that impact from matches because it’s completely different than practice.

“Hopefully, it’s not something that worries her and it’s not a little injury or something like that. But I was also surprised to see that she pulled out of that match because it would have been nice to play a match on Rod Laver Arena in front of a big crowd to get used to that environment again.

“But who knows? She’s the only one who knows the reasons.”

Osaka will be unseeded at the 2024 Australian Open, which gets underway on Sunday January 14.