A tennis pundit voiced their concerns over Naomi Osaka’s form after she failed to qualify for the Cincinnati Open.
The Japanese player is still searching for her best form after returning to the tour at the start of the season following the birth of her child.
The 27-year-old targeted the ongoing North American hard court swing as the portion of the year where she aimed to hit top form.
But after failing to reach the main draw in Ohio, time is running out for the four-time Grand Slam champion to build some momentum heading into the US Open.
What did a tennis pundit say about Naomi Osaka’s game after the Cincinnati Open qualifiers?
Naomi Osaka, who is ranked number 90 in the world, had to enter the qualifying tournament if she wanted to compete in the main draw at the Cincinnati Open.
But after beating Anna Blinkova, she lost to Ashlyn Krueger who reached the main draw and defeated Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic, before losing to Diana Shnaider.
Post-match Osaka posted a lengthy statement on Instagram to voice thoughts on her life and her game, and mentioned that she does not feel like “she is in her body” at the moment.
The Tennis Podcast reacted to her emotional statement and expected her form to have improved since returning to the tour in January.
“It’s a very tennis player thing to say that you enjoy and trust the process and not the outcome, but it is good to hear Naomi Osaka talking that way, because I don’t think she has always enjoyed the process,” they said.
“So to hear her say I’m leaning into enjoying the process and trying not to get hung up on the outcomes because in her own words the results aren’t resulting right now I think that is overall good.
“But I do want the results to get better, I don’t want to be watching her losing qualifying to Ashen Krueger all that much. She’s too good to be suffering results like that and I did think it would be clicking more than it has by now.”
Is Naomi Osaka going to play at the US Open?
Osaka will play at the 2024 US Open after she was handed a wildcard to enter the tournament. She last played at Flushing Meadows in 2022.
She was one of several former champions such as Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka and Bianca Andreescu to be given a wildcard to compete at the final Grand Slam of the year.
Osaka is a two-time US Open champion and her first triumph came in 2018 when she was just 20 years of age.
That year she defeated Serena Williams to claim glory and two years later she won for the second time after coming a set down to defeat Victoria Azarenka in the final.
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