Every sport needs star power to attract viewers, and according to coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff are those stars on the WTA Tour.
The 26-year-old Japanese player is coming back to tennis, and her comeback has been highly anticipated by the tennis community, as Osaka has yet to win a Grand Slam since 2021 after winning one in four consecutive years since 2018.
Now, with chapter two ahead of her, Osaka’s comeback has been one of the main talking points heading into the 2024 Australian Open, and according to renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou, “it’s the best news for women’s tennis.”
In an interview with Eurosport, the French coach says that the WTA needs superstars, and Naomi Osaka is one of those superstars, as well as Coco Gauff, who just recently won her first Grand Slam title.
“I think it’s the best news for women’s tennis. Now you have Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, not there are no others because of course there are many others, but I think those two are super exciting. They are superstars, so they’re great for the WTA – the WTA needs superstars.”
After Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, who were the two main superstars on the WTA Tour, retired from the sport, it lacked a bit of star power, but with Osaka and Gauff, it’s back.
“We had so many great years with Serena, Venus and Maria Sharapova, who are three really huge stars. And I think it draws a lot of attention to women’s tennis when you have players like that.”
According to Mouratoglou, Osaka is very motivated to come back, and he may be right as the four-time Grand Slam champion spoke about her motivation only recently.
“So I’m very excited that Naomi comes back. I think she’s great. I think she can do well. I feel that she’s very motivated to come back.”
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