Ahead of the Grand Slam’s tournament in Melbourne, which she won in 2019 and 2021, the 26-year-old Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka said she could even play as many events as a maiden.
“I’m definitely looking at playing a lot of tournaments this year. I might go back to the schedule I had when I was 18 or so”, said Naomi Osaka at a press conference in Melbourne. “I think right now I really need to play a lot of matches and hopefully I’ll have a really good end to the year. My schedule is full right now with the tournaments I want to play in. My body is definitely a lot different than before the birth to Shai. So I had to adjust my playing style a lot”, added she.
Naomi Osaka faces 16th-seeded Caroline Garcia (France) in the first round of the Australian Open starting on Sunday and is under no illusions about the upcoming clash.
“She’s seeded. Whenever I play her, I see she’s amazing. She’s got every shot she needs, a top-five player. At first I thought, ‘OK, this is tough,’ but I’m definitely going to try to achieve what I want. I hope during the match I can get it right. In a strange way I’m glad to be playing against the seed and hopefully if I can get through this the next match won’t be so difficult”, commented Naomi Osaka.
Naomi Osaka has been ranked world No 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. She is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, with two Australian Open and two US Open titles.
