Naomi Osaka continues to face challenges in her comeback season, eight months after returning to the tennis circuit. Her most recent disappointment occurred at the Cincinnati Open, where she was defeated in three sets by Ashlyn Krueger in the second round of qualifying. This latest setback comes just a few weeks before the US Open, leaving Osaka concerned about her current form.
Struggling to Reconnect with the Game
Osaka, who once held the world No. 1 ranking, has been facing a series of tough losses recently. After a first-round exit at the Paris Olympic Games, where she fell to Angelique Kerber, she was also eliminated in the third round of the Canadian Open. These results have only heightened her frustration as she struggles to regain the consistency and power that once defined her game.
After her defeat in Cincinnati, Osaka shared her thoughts on Instagram, expressing her confusion and frustration with her current performance. "It's not just the fact of losing that affects me," she said. "What worries me more is that I don't feel like myself on the court. I'm missing shots I shouldn't and playing with less power than I used to. It's been mentally exhausting trying to get over this."
Osaka returned to the circuit in January after a 15-month break, during which she gave birth to her first child. While she has shown glimpses of her former self, with quarterfinal runs in Doha and 's-Hertogenbosch, she admits she is struggling to reconnect with her game. "There have been some matches this year where I felt like my old self, but now, it's like I'm dealing with a postpartum phase," she explained, feeling that what was once so familiar now seems strange in her hands.
As she prepares for the upcoming US Open in Flushing Meadows, where she won titles in 2018 and 2020, Osaka hopes to rediscover her rhythm. "This should be something natural for me now, but it isn't," she confessed. "I'm starting to realize that I need to be more understanding of myself while I work on this."
With the US Open on the horizon, Osaka remains determined to overcome these obstacles and return to the top of her game.
