With the French Open all finished, fortunately, we need only wait a few more weeks before the next Grand Slam commences.
Wimbledon, widely recognised as the most prestigious tournament in tennis, is set to be one of the most wide-open majors in recent memory on both the men’s and women’s sides.
This breeds new competition and fresh narratives, but it will actually be a familiar face, who has been around the apex of the sport for what feels like forever, who will be vying to go deep in the women’s tournament.
Naomi Osaka, fresh off an impressive but short Roland Garros run, has kickstarted her grass-court campaign in style.
Having flown through the first two rounds at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships in the Netherlands, she is looking a real threat as she continues her comeback year.
Andy Roddick makes worrying Naomi Osaka prediction
Speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, in which they actually had Kim Clijsters present too, they combed over an enthralling French Open where both Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiątek came out with the crowns.
The former, a first-time winner, was the real headline stealer, as he became the youngest-ever man to win a Grand Slam on each of the three surfaces.
For the Polish star though, her win was far less celebrated as it has become so expected, as this marked her third straight title at the event.
However, of all the players she faced, Osaka came by far the closest to overcoming her, and arguably should have done.
But ahead of Wimbledon, Andy Roddick retains one fear about the Japanese tennis player despite her stunning performance: ‘The only question I would have is that we still haven’t seen her play five matches in a row. She looked amazing at Roland Garros but she didn’t have that log jam of matches. So I think that is something to look out for.
‘We are talking about her winning slams. That’s seven matches she has to get through, she hasn’t got through four yet. But if nothing else she showed us that that top-level tennis is in there somewhere.’
Naomi Osaka admitted she cried after her match with Swiatek, such was the emotional stress she suffered in such an outstanding match.
Naomi Osaka could challenge for Grand Slam again soon
Given how she started the year in relatively stuttered fashion, most would be forgiven for underestimating Osaka.
After all, despite showing glimpses of her championship-winning quality, a first-round exit in both the Australian Open and the Abu Dhabi Open did provoke fears.
However, these disappointments were offset by solid runs in Qatar and at Indian Wells.
Despite all this, it was her second-round exit at Roland Garros which has really kickstarted the campaign to suggest that she could soon challenge for Grand Slams again, as she went toe-to-toe with Swiatek, and even had a match point too.
She is only due to get better too, which makes for a frightening prospect for the rest of the WTA.
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