Naomi Osaka drops truth bomb over Australian Open participation
Follow Us
Naomi Osaka
World No. 13 Naomi Osaka has finally revealed her decision on participating at the upcoming 2022 Australian Open where she is the defending champion. The Japanese superstar is a 2-time champion at the Slam having won her first title at the Grand Slam in 2019, which was her 2nd career Grand Slam title having earlier won the 2018 US Open as well.
Naomi did not play on the Tour again after her 3rd round exit from the 2021 US Open where she lost to eventual runner-up, Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez. Naomi had not been active on the Tour as she battled her mental health issues that she had revealed during the 2021 French Open.
With her bouts with mental health issues and then an early end to her season in September, many were doubtful whether she will be starting her 2022 campaign in Australia, but all those doubts have been put to rest after the player took to her Twitter handle to announce her decision.
Posting a photo on her Twitter handle, Naomi captioned it with ‘See you in 16ish hours in Australia’ where she can be sitting in the flight.
Naomi Osaka has a 25-4 record at the Australian Open
Naomi made her Grand Slam debut at the 2016 Australian Open where she lost in the 3rd round to Victoria Azarenka after having entered the main-draw through the qualifiers. She then suffered a 2nd round defeat in 2017 before reaching the 4th round in 2018 where she lost to Simona Halep.
Naomi won her first title in Australia in 2019 defeating Petra Kvitova in 3-sets, her 2nd career Grand Slam title. Her title defence in 2020 was not successful however as she lost in the 3rd round to American teenager Coco Gauff. Naomi however came all guns blazing in 2021 as she won her 2nd Australian Open title and her 4th career Grand Slam title as she won the title dropping just 1 set in the entire tournament.
With Naomi set to feature in the 2022 tournament where she will be defending her title, it will be interesting how she plays in her title defence.
Stay Updated!
Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)