“Tennis over changing diapers,” Naomi Osaka hits back with a cheeky observation as she serves up a major comeback win

Naomi Osaka will face Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the Brisbane International. 

“Tennis over changing diapers,” Naomi Osaka hits back with a cheeky observation as she serves up a major comeback win

Naomi Osaka (L), Shai (R) (Sources: Twitter< Instagram)

In a hilarious statement, Naomi Osaka claimed that tennis is much easier than motherhood. The 4-time Grand Slam champion cracked the joke after defeating Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in the first round of the 2024 Brisbane International, which marked her comeback to tennis after staying away from the court for over a year due to her pregnancy. 

After her victory, Osaka was asked in a light conversation whether tennis was easier than getting her baby girl Shai to sleep, to which the Japanese said that it indeed was.

YouTube video

She revealed that Shai always fights when being put to sleep, and thus Osaka would prefer tennis over changing diapers or putting her baby to sleep any day. 

FS Video
Shai likes to fight her sleep. So I’d say preferably playing tennis over changing diapers.
She said

The last tournament that Naomi Osaka appeared in was the Toray Pan Pacific Open in 2022. She took a break from tennis after that and announced in January that she was pregnant with her first child with her longtime boyfriend, Cordae.

The couple welcomed their baby girl, Shai, in January and after a few months, Osaka started to prepare for her comeback. 

Initially, the plan was to return directly to the 2024 Australian Open but Naomi Osaka’s team then decided that it would be better to play at least one tournament ahead of the Grand Slam.

Thus, she participated in the Brisbane International. If the Japanese managed to lift the trophy, it would give her a massive boost in her confidence ahead of the Australian Open. 

Naomi Osaka dominates Tamara Korpatsch in the first round 

Naomi Osaka registered a great win against Tamara Korpatsch to proceed to the second round of the tournament. She won the match 6-3, 7-6 (11-9) and did not seem to struggle at any point. She will now face Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the tournament, which is set to be a great match on paper. 

Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka (Source: Japan Times)

Karolina Pliskova has a 3-2 record against Naomi Osaka in head-to-head matches, which might give her an edge. Moreover, the last time they faced each other in the previous edition of the tournament, Pliskova defeated Osaka (in 2020).

Yet, Naomi Osaka is being perceived as the favorite in this match, as the Czech international is no longer in her previous form and is also returning from a wrist injury. 

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