At 27 years old, four-time major champion Naomi Osaka gave an honest assessment of her tennis career thus far and expressed how she feels about remaining in the sport moving forward.
Osaka found early success in her tennis career, winning her first major title at age 20. She's taken time off of the sport multiple times, some for mental health reasons and then in 2023 as she gave birth to her daughter.
She returned to the court in 2024, but didn't have the outcomes she was hoping for. Her most notable match of the year was arguably when she nearly beat No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the French Open.
Osaka admitted this week that if her results don't get better in the near future, she could walk away from the sport.
“I don’t think I’m the type of player that would hang around,” Osaka said, via the Associated Press. “I have a lot of respect for all the players on tour, but the point of my life that I’m at right now, if I’m not above a certain ranking, I don’t see myself playing for a while. ... I’d rather spend time with my daughter if I’m not where I think I should be and where I feel like I can be.”
She's not hanging up her racket quite yet. It sounds like Osaka plans to compete in 2025 to try to better her results.
“I think 2024 humbled me, but I also feel like I grew a lot,” Osaka said. “I worked way harder than I’ve ever worked before. So in that, I guess it was very painful to not get the results I wanted, but I feel like I’m growing and learning and I am really excited for this year."
Osaka will kick off her 2025 campaign this week at the ASB Classic in New Zealand. She's expected to compete at the Australian Open in January.
More of the Latest Sports News
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Naomi Osaka Admits She Wouldn't 'Hang Around' in Tennis If Results Don't Get Better.
