Former world No. 1 Osaka has stated numerous times over the past 18 months that she is currently putting her mental health first. Osaka advanced to the Miami final earlier this year but fell to Iga Swiatek. When Osaka displayed some of her former brilliance in Miami, the tennis community agreed the sport would benefit from the Japanese returning to high-level competition. Many think Osaka is still one of the game’s most skilled players but that all she needs to do is play more to get back to where she was.

However, this year did not manage to play many matches this season (only 23) and in the season outside of the top 40.

Tennis legend Patrick McEnroe is rooting for Naomi and he hopes that she can find her way back.

“It’d be nice if she could find a balance of what’s helping her be a better person in her own mind but also still be a top tennis player. Once you come to some realization about who you are, Andre Agassi, we know what he went through, and then he came out on the other side,” said Patrick.

“Even Serena [Williams], midway through her career, was like, ‘I’m gonna be a Hollywood star and I’m gonna do other things.’ But then she was like, ‘Wait a second, I want to be the best tennis player I can be.”

Naomi Osaka in 2022

Currently the world no.42, Osaka played her last match on the 20^th of September when she had to retire when playing against world no.54 Daria Gavrilova in the 1^st round and the scoreline was 1-0 .

This season Osaka has managed to achieve a 14-9 record. Naomi Osaka’s best achievement of the current year was reaching the final in Miami.