Naomi Osaka cites Carlos Alcaraz as inspiration in rediscovering her love for tennis
Naomi Osaka has revealed she was inspired by other players including Carlos Alcaraz as she rediscovered her love for tennis in her time away from the sport.
The four-time Grand Slam winner has divulged how watching Alcaraz during his Wimbledon title run this year encouraged her to practise drop shots so she could “play drop shots like he does.”
Osaka gave birth to her daughter Shai in July. Two weeks later, footage showed the 26-year-old was already training to prepare for her return to action.
The former world No 1, who is currently unranked, last competed at the WTA tournament in Tokyo in September 2022.
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 Japanese star is set to make her long-awaited comeback at the 2024 Brisbane International – a WTA 500 tournament that will begin on December 31.
The 26-year-old will face world No 84 Tamara Korpatsch in the opening round in Brisbane, where she is competing as a wildcard.
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Speaking ahead of her return to action in Brisbane, Osaka spoke of how watching other players during her tennis absence made her appreciate the game.
“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,” she explained.
“Yeah, 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 practising drop shots because I’m going to play like drop shots like he does.
“I guess in a way being a kid again, being inspired by other players, wanting to play on the big courts.”
Osaka also admitted she is experiencing nerves given how long it has been since her last competitive match and also because of her motivation to win.
“I feel definitely I’m nervous, I haven’t played a match in a long time, but I’m competitive so I’m thinking I’m nervous and I want to win. There’s a lot of things that are going on in my head,” the Japanese said.
“I think the biggest thing is just walking onto the court and sort of absorbing all the energy and experiencing the atmosphere for me is something that I’m definitely going to treasure a lot.”
