Naomi Osaka of Japan returns a shot in opposition to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan throughout their Billie Jean King Cup tennis match in Tokyo, on April 12, 2024.
| Photograph Credit score: AP
Former world primary Naomi Osaka mentioned Saturday that she “would like to play” at this 12 months’s Paris Olympics if she is granted a spot by tennis chiefs.
The four-time Grand Slam champion could have to undergo an appeals course of to say a spot after failing to make a compulsory two appearances for Japan within the Billie Jean King Cup in the course of the present Olympic cycle.
Osaka lit the cauldron on the opening ceremony of the Covid-delayed Tokyo Video games in 2021, the place she went on to make the third spherical.
She has since change into a mom, returning to tennis late final 12 months after a 15-month maternity break.
She instructed reporters in Tokyo after serving to Japan qualify for the BJK Cup finals that she’s going to play in Paris “in the event that they let me”.
“Rising up watching the Olympics on TV, I felt that it was a celebration of sport,” she mentioned.
“I believed it introduced everybody collectively and simply to have the ability to be an athlete there and work together with different athletes is without doubt one of the funnest issues that I’ve ever achieved.”
The 26-year-old mentioned she “would hope that I get to play” on the Video games.
“And if I do play, I’ve excessive ambitions of myself and I hope that I can do very well and get a medal,” she mentioned.
Osaka’s world rating has risen from 831 to 193 since she started her comeback, though she has not gone past the quarter-finals in six tournaments.
She mentioned she intends to play “a full clay courtroom season and possibly a full grass courtroom season” over the approaching months.
“I might hope that I do very well on one of many clay courtroom tournaments and likewise grass,” she mentioned.
“Truthfully, I really feel like I’ve improved each match so I feel that’s attainable for me.”
Osaka made just one look for Japan as they beat Kazakhstan 3-1 to qualify for the BJK Cup finals for the primary time.
She beat Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), hitting 15 aces.
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