Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, reveals that she has drawn inspiration from Novak Djokovic’s strategic approach and made adjustments to her return game at the Qatar Open. Since resuming the circuit last month after a 15-month hiatus, during which she welcomed her first child, the former women’s world number one has faced challenges in finding her rhythm.
Osaka won her opening match back at the Brisbane International but lost in the second round to No 16 seed Caroline Garcia in her next outing. She is yet to win a title this year but has been encouraged by her results in the Qatar tournament so far and hopes she can push for another deep run when she plays Croatia’s Petra Martic in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
She sounded much sharper in her latest outing. She raced through the first set against Martic in just 38 minutes to set up a second-round clash with Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko. Osaka had to fight hard in the second against an opponent who took her only break of the match and saved a couple of match points as she fought back from 5-3 down.
Martic started the third better and held a 2-1 lead before Osaka retook control. She broke her opponent in straight games before closing out the match in a hotly contested tie-break to seal her place in the last 16.
After the match, coach Wim Fissette said that Osaka had not forgotten how to play tennis but that her movement was rusty. He added that she had also been focused on ensuring her daughter Shai was healthy and happy, which changed her perspective on the sport.
He continued: “She knows how limited the window is to achieve her dreams. She is maximizing it right now. She must be the best version of herself to accomplish those goals.”
Osaka aims to win a fourth consecutive match and make her first deep run since returning from maternity leave when she plays No 6 Ons Jabeur of France in the last eight.
Osaka will also face the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals if she can beat the No. 1 seed. They meet again after being paired in the same draw at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. They will have a chance to settle their score from their first meeting at the Stanford Classic in 2014. Click here for more tennis news. Follow all the action from the Qatar Open live with our scoreboard. You can also subscribe to WTA HQ on YouTube for our daily show, the day’s top stories, and more. You can even follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to stay up-to-date with everything happening in tennis. You can also download our app and get all the latest tennis news directly to your mobile device. Enjoy! The Associated Press produces WTA HQ.
