2022 was an up and down season for Osaka, whose best performance arguably came in the Miami Open where she was defeated 6-4, 6-0 by world no. 1 Iga Swiatek.
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Since September of last year, Naomi Osaka has been out of action. The Japanese tennis player was supposed to compete in this season’s Australian Open but had to withdraw due to her pregnancy. However, there is good news for Osaka fans as the former world no.1 has revealed that she will be making her comeback in the 2024 Australian Open. She has already won the hard-court Grand Slam twice so far in her career, in 2018 and 2021.
“I’m definitely going to perform well and be a better player than I have been last year. For me, my results just made me want to try harder and be the best that I can be. I’ll be competing in Australia next year,” she said as per Sportskeeda. “The baby is due in June or July, so I have August, September, October, November and December. I have almost six months,” Osaka added.
2022 was an up and down season for Osaka, whose best performance arguably came in the Miami Open where she was defeated 6-4, 6-0 by world no. 1 Iga Swiatek. The Japanese tennis player defeated the likes of Alison Riske, Belinda Bencic and Danielle Collins before falling to the Pole.
Petra Kvitova ended Elena Rybakina’s 13-match winning streak to win the Miami Open. Kvitova defeated Rybakina 7-6(14), 6-2 on the strength of a strong serving effort on Saturday, earning her 30th career victory. Kvitova, 33, won the Miami Open at the oldest age since Serena Williams in 2015. Kvitova will make her first appearance in the Top 10 since September 2021 on Monday. “For sure the tiebreak was deciding today I think all the match,” Kvitova said. “I think it was the longest one I ever played in my life, and it was like, yeah, if I didn’t serve, I couldn’t be there. I mean, I got like three aces at the beginning and it was really tough.”
Kvitova won her ninth WTA 1000 championship and increased her impressive record in WTA Tour finals to 30-11 in her 99th main-draw appearance at a WTA 1000 event while competing in Miami on her 13th main-draw appearance. Her victory over No. 7 Rybakina gave her 60 career victories in the Top 10, which puts her third among active players behind Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka. Kvitova prevailed after a dramatic 67-minute opening frame in which she attempted to serve for the set at 5-4 but was unsuccessful before fending off five set points in a protracted tiebreak to win 16-14.
Rybakina entered the final with a perfect 7-0 record in tiebreaks, but Kvitova had good reason to be optimistic. She served well over 70% of the time in the first set and was 6-2 in tiebreaks this season. Rybakina served up five aces, but Kvitova saved five set points and won on her fifth to take the lead.
