Osaka ‘not far off’ her best but often ponders future

Naomi Osaka says she is "not far off" the form that brought her four Grand Slam titles, but admits she has thought about quitting and often ponders her future.

The 29-year-old Japanese star won both the US Open and Australian Open twice between 2018 and 2021, during a glittering start to her career that took her to world number one.

She took time out of the sport in 2021 to prioritise her mental health and another 15 months away after becoming pregnant, before returning in 2023 following the birth of her daughter.

Osaka now says that she would quit tennis if her three-year-old, Shai, asked her to, despite climbing back up the world rankings and once again challenging for major titles.

"It's tough; sometimes I look towards my future, and I often wonder how long I'm going to play," Osaka said as she prepares to take part in the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

"Because if my daughter did say she didn't want me to travel as much, I'm not the type of person to ignore that."

Osaka acknowledged that her mindset has changed a lot with age and the extra responsibilities that come with parenthood, saying "my daughter is my biggest priority".

"I try my best to put as much energy as I can into tennis," she said.

"I wouldn't say I'm part-timing it, but my entire day doesn't consist of that.

"If I think about it in certain ways, I'm really proud of where I am now because it's not like I can dedicate my entire time to the sport."

Osaka has battled back to 19th in the world and is the seventh seed at this week's tournament, where she faces Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the opening round.

Osaka beat top seed Aryna Sabalenka to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon earlier this year, after finishing runner-up at the preceding grass tournament in Bad Homburg, and also reached the last 16 of the French Open and US Open.

Osaka also reached the semi-finals in Washington and the last eight in Toronto during the North American hardcourt swing, and eventual champion Elena Rybakina ended her run at Flushing Meadows.

"I genuinely don't feel like I'm that far off," she said, when considering if she can get back to winning titles.

"I think there are certain instincts that I don't want to say I lost, but maybe I forgot and I'm kind of relearning, but yeah, I don't think - I hope - I'm not far off.

"I think I built a pretty solid base and I'm just excited to see if I can continue learning and going further in tournaments."

Osaka is on the opposite side of the draw in Tokyo from Kazakhstan's world number one, Rybakina, who enters the tournament after winning her fourth title of the year at the Ningbo Open in China.

The defending champion powered past Canada's Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-2 in Sunday's final to claim a first tournament victory since last month's US Open.

Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev defended his title for the first time in his career, beating Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-3 in the Almaty Open final for his 25th men's singles crown and fourth this season.

And at the Lyon Open, the British pair of Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash beat France's Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti 4-6 6-3 10-8 in the men's doubles final to record their 12th ATP title together.