Martina Navratilova feels “outside forces” may be to blame for Naomi Osaka’s fall from the top of the game. Osaka, who turned 25 in October, is a four-time Grand Slam champion but she hasn’t won any titles ever since she won the Australian Open in 2021 January.
In 2022, Osaka appeared in a total of 11 tournaments. Ever since going public about her battle with depression and anxiety during the 2021 French Open, Osaka hasn’t really played that much. “She’s a very unique case, in every way.
So maybe you need to deal with it uniquely. Maybe she doesn’t have to play all those matches, but she certainly has to play more than she has played. With her, it seems to be the forces outside tennis are affecting her more than anything else.
It’s baked in,” Navratilova told the WTA Tour.
Osaka is still considered as one of the most talented in the game
Osaka hasn’t won any titles in two years and she is now the 42nd-ranked player in the world but many believe that she is definitely still one of the most talented players on the WTA Tour.
Also, many believe that Osaka first has to play more tournaments as otherwise there is no way she can rediscover her old game and become a strong force in the game again. In March, Osaka had a very promising run at a WTA 1000 tournament in Miami, where she made the final before losing to Iga Swiatek.
But after finishing as runner-up in Miami, Osaka appeared in just seven tournaments in the rest of the year and didn’t have any notable results. Going into the 2023 season, Osaka is expected to compete at the Australian Open since her name has recently appeared on the tournament’s entry list.
Osaka is a two-time Australian Open champion and she can certainly play well at Melbourne Park. It remains to be seen if Osaka can make a splash at the start of the 2023 season.
