Naomi Osaka had high hopes for her comeback to tennis, and while the Australian Open experience didn’t go well, she’s still set on her goals.
While the four-time Grand Slam champion understood that her comeback wouldn’t be easy, the Japanese player still had lofty goals. She even admitted that she thought she could win the Australian Open, but obviously, that didn’t happen.
She still wants to win Grand Slams, and she actually put a number on it months ago. Osaka admitted that eight more Grand Slams sounds like a good goal, and she sticks with that number. She has won four so far, so that’s a pretty ambitious goal, but she feels like she can do it.
In a talk with The National ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open, Osaka admitted that the Australian Open was disappointing because it didn’t quite go the way she thought it would, but she’s hopeful because her level is improving every day.
“I definitely still feel that way. Australia gave me a little bit of self-doubt, just because I wish I could have played more matches and I always do really well in Australia. So it was a bit of a harsh reality. But I still think my level is improving every day and I think that I can be better, and I hope that I will be better.”
Having ambitious goals doesn’t worry Osaka because she’s always been a person who sets big goals for herself. While it’s probably unrealistic that she achieves 100% of her goals, she’s hoping for a good amount because she’s not spending time away from her daughter for a quarter-final of a Grand Slam.
“I’m always the type of person that would rather set really high goals and maybe I’ll do only 25 per cent of that but the 25 per cent is still really amazing.”
“I don’t think that I would have come back and be like, ‘Oh my goal is to get to the quarter-final of a slam’, which is still really good but that’s not why I’m spending time away from Shai.”
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