Naomi Osaka‘s challenging season has not stopped the Japanese hero from choosing to represent her country at November’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Sensible fans and analysts realized Osaka would not be near her blistering best when she returned to the sport at the start of 2024 after being away for over a year on maternity leave.
However, some hoped the four-time Grand Slam champion’s level would be good enough to challenge at the biggest tournaments when the US Open started. By then, Osaka had been back for nearly eight months.
Unfortunately for Osaka and her fans, the process of returning has been challenging. Her latest setback was losing in the US Open second round in straight sets to Karolina Muchova despite leading 5-4, 40-0 in the second set.
Those difficulties led to Osaka splitting with her coach, Wim Fissette. The former world No. 1 re-hired the Belgian coach for the 2024 season after winning two Grand Slams with him during their previous partnership from 2020 until 2022.
The 26-year-old surprised many by working with Patrick Mouratoglou after parting with Fissette. Mouratoglou had a successful spell with Serena Williams, but he is a controversial figure after his role in Simona Halep’s doping suspension.
Serena Williams’ former coach was also fired three times in less than 18 months by Holger Rune, which was his last spell coaching a professional player. Whether hiring Mouratoglou is a wise decision remains to be seen.
It would have been understandable if Osaka wanted a more extended off-season to work on her game after struggling this year, and to get some additional time to build her relationship with Mouratoglou off the court.
However, representing Japan clearly means a lot to Osaka. She is on her country’s team for the Billie Jean King Cup finals, which will be held from November 13th to 20th in Malaga.
Moyuka Uchijima, Nao Hibino, Eri Hozumi, and Shuko Aoyama are the other Japanese Billie Jean King Cup team members. Former No. 1 doubles player Ai Sugiyama is the Japanese captain.
Although all members of Japan’s Billie Jean King Cup team deserve respect, it seems obvious Japan would have no realistic chance of competing for the title without Osaka, despite the other four players being great professionals.
Of course, for Japan to go far and challenge at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, Osaka’s level needs to be much better than it has been for most of 2024. Her teammates will hope the former world No. 1 becomes inspired.
Although it has been a difficult year for Osaka overall, there have been flashes of her past brilliance. She played superbly in the opening round of the US Open to defeat the 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.
Osaka also came within one point of beating the four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek at Roland-Garros, but she could not convert a match point. Her level from that contest would make her hard to defeat at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
