Naomi Osaka ‘finds’ doubles veteran Rohan Bopanna as partner for Mixed Doubles in the 2022 US Open

Naomi Osaka ‘finds’ doubles veteran Rohan Bopanna as partner for Mixed Doubles in the 2022 US Open

Naomi Osaka and Rohan Bopanna

4-time Grand Slam champion and former World No. 1 in singles, Naomi Osaka is currently preparing for the upcoming 2022 US Open where she will be eyeing her 3rd Grand Slam title. Osaka, currently ranked 44th in the WTA rankings, will be without a seed in New York for the first time since 2018 when seeded 20th, she won her maiden US Open title before winning it back in 2020.

Osaka’s preparations in the US Open Leg Series have not been good as the Japanese failed to go past the 2nd round in any of the three events she played in. She started in San Jose where she lost to Coco Gauff in the second round followed by first-round defeats to Kaia Kanepi and Shuai Zhang in Canada and Cincinnati respectively, which takes her to New York with a 1-3 record in the US Open Leg series while having a 12-6 record for the season on the surface.

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Naomi Osaka recently expressed her wish to play Mixed Doubles

Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka

Osaka, like many of her peers, has taken the week off to prepare for the Grand Slam. While she had her first practice session in New York on 22nd August, the former World No. 1 had tweeted her desire to play Mixed Doubles in this year’s US Open. Osaka tweeted, “I kinda want to play mixed doubles in US Open cause I’ve never played a full match in my life but I’m also very afraid of letting my partner down.”

While Osaka received quite a few reactions and messages from fans on whether she should go for it or not, Indian sports manager Ajit Ravindran tagged doubles veteran and Indian tennis legend Rohan Bopanna asking him to join Osaka, to which the 2017 Australian Open Mixed Doubles winner replied, “Lets do it.”

While there has been no communication between Osaka and Bopanna so far, at least that is known to the public, the prospect of the two pairing up will certainly be great for both of them as Bopanna is well experienced in Doubles and could help Osaka in a great deal while the Japanese can start another campaign for the Indian in his bid to win another major title.

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