- Naomi Osaka shared Wednesday that she plans to make her return to professional tennis in 2024.
- The four-time Grand Slam champion took a break before giving birth to her daughter this summer.
- Osaka said that the hiatus “has really fueled a fire in me” to return to the court in a major way.
NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka is ready to return to professional tennis.
The four-time Grand Slam champion stepped away from the sport in the fall of 2022 after a first-round exit from that summer’s US Open and a Round of 16 loss at Tokyo’s Pan Pacific Open in September. And shortly after she withdrew from the 2023 Australian Open in January, Osaka announced that she was pregnant with her first child.
Now, just two months after giving birth to her daughter, Shai, Osaka says her comeback to the court will feature “way more tournaments than I used to play” — including a trip to the 2024 Australian Open.
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