Tennis star Naomi Osaka has vowed to return stronger in 2025 after enduring a tough 2024 due to injuries, and a break to focus on motherhood.
The 27-year-old Japanese player will play her first match since she suffered a back injury in the China Open in October at the ASB tennis classic in Auckland.
Osaka was out of action for 15 months due to the birth of her first child. She ended the season ranked 58th.
She admitted that she was humbled by her form in 2024, and she promised to give her best to rediscover her form in 2025.
Osaka said: “I don’t think I’m the type of player that would hang around. I have a lot of respect for all the players on tour, but the point of my life that I’m at right now, if I’m not above a certain ranking, I don’t see myself playing for a while.
“I’d rather spend time with my daughter if I’m not where I think I should be and where I feel like I can be.”
Osaka had a 22-17 singles record in 2024, reaching the quarterfinals at Doha and ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
“I think 2024 humbled me, but I also feel like I grew a lot,” she said. “I worked way harder than I’ve ever worked before. So in that, I guess it was very painful to not get the results I wanted, but I feel like I’m growing and learning and I am really excited for this year [2025].
“I played really good matches. People still talk to me about my Iga [Swiatek] match at the French Open [lost 7-6, 1-6, 7-5]. So I’m glad that I was able to give people memories as well.
“Even though I got injured in Beijing, which was my last tournament, I feel pretty optimistic about how that match would have turned out [against Coco Gauff], and I am excited to play on hard court again.”
Osaka won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021 and the US Open in 2018 and 2020. She said she still has a deep love for tennis, despite the recent injury setbacks.
She said: “I’ve been playing tennis since I was 3, and a huge part of that I owe to my parents, but I never really saw my life doing anything else,” she said.
“Then, when I sat there and had the opportunity to do other things, I realized that I’d rather be playing tennis.
“So it was kind of one of those realization moments where you feel like you thought you were forced to do something, but in actuality you very much truly loved it.”
Osaka will take on Lina Glushko of Israel in the first round of the ASB Classic.
