ANALYSIS: How have leading returnees done at mid-point of 2024 season including Osaka, Kerber and Raducanu

This 2024 tennis season, in many ways, could have been branded the ‘returnee’ season because we’ve quite a few notable players returning from long absences. Some of them were coming back from maternity leave, such as Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, but some, like Emma Raducanu and Simona Halep, were coming back for other reasons. In any case, we’ve had quite a few of the team returning to the sport, so let’s take a look at how the comebacks went.

Osaka made her comeback earlier this year in Australia, where she arrived without her daughter, fearing the long trip would be too much for her. Still, a very motivated Japanese person reiterated a few times that she wants to be better than before, as she now wants to show her daughter how great of a player she can be.

The start was pretty rough, even though she won her first match back. The tennis side of things wasn’t too bad, but the fitness side was a glaring issue, as Osaka wasn’t in shape whatsoever. After playing more matches, she finally had a good run in Doha, making the quarter-final, which was followed up by a solid Miami Open outing.

Clay was a bit rough as well, but then she had a signature performance at Roland Garros, nearly beating Iga Swiatek there. Though it wasn’t followed up with a brilliant grass season, the comeback has been fairly decent but very inconsistent, which is normal to a degree. We’ll see how she does in this second part of the season when she’s going to be back on the hard courts. That’s where she made most of her money.

Caroline Wozniacki returned to tennis last year, but she didn’t play that much. It was mostly a test to see if she could really return to the sport. After proving that she could, she took a long time off at the end of the year to prepare for this year, and it’s been an okay experience so far.

Australia was rough as she didn’t play all that well, but then she had a pretty great Indian Wells run, making the quarter-final. Since then, it’s been mostly inconsistent, which is partly to blame for her not playing consistently. Due to how she’s managed her comeback, Wozniacki doesn’t play often but rather here and there.

That’s all fine and dandy, but it prevents you from finding a very good rhythm, and it shows. We’ll see if she changes something in the future, but for now, it’s been solid. That's about all it's going to be with this kind of approach.

Another former great player who returned this year from maternity leave was Angelique Kerber, and she’s had the worst time of all of them. It hasn’t been a great comeback, with only 7 wins in 21 matches and very few signature showings. She played well in Indian Wells and in Rome, but outside of that, very few wins occurred.

Getting back from maternity leave is tough but it’s even tougher if you’ve kind of been slowing down before that. Kerber wanted to return because she thought she could still be competitive, but her performances have painted a different picture so far. Maybe she can turn it around in the coming months.

Another player who had a comeback this year is Emma Raducanu, though her comeback was from injuries. The Brit underwent triple surgery last year to address a few physical issues she had last year, and it’s been a pretty decent return. The start was rough as she tried to find her best tennis, but over time, the Brit slowly turned the corner albeit with some setbacks.

16 wins in 26 matches might not seem all too impressive, but it’s the eye test with Raducanu. Especially in recent weeks on grass, you could see her best tennis shining through at times, but she needs to become consistent with that. We likely won’t see it until very late this year or next year, but just being able to play as much tennis as she did this year and remain healthy while doing so is a huge step forward for the Brit.

She worked hard during her time away from tennis, and it’s showing. A good showing in the upcoming US Open stretch could further solidify that, but let’s see how things go in Washington for her. She skipped the Olympics for that reason, and time will tell whether that was a wise decision.

Another player who made a notable comeback this year is Simona Halep. She was more than a year away from the sport due to a doping ban that occurred after the 2022 US Open. In the meantime, Halep was handed a four-year suspension, which was challenged at the Court of Arbitration of Sports. The suspension was reduced, and Halep was able to return earlier this year at the Miami Open.

It was a fascinating match against Paula Badosa. She won the opening set easily but then got beaten in 3 after starting to experience shoulder problems. A few weeks later, she would play one more match but be forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.

In a recent interview, Halep admitted that rushing back like that proved to be a mistake because her body wasn’t ready to compete like that, and it’s why she’s still away from the sport because of a few lingering physical problems. Easing herself into it would have been better because she didn’t practice too much before her return as she didn’t know whether her suspension would be overturned.

In any case, it’s good to have her back, and hopefully, the injury concerns clear up pretty quickly. So there you have it, a mixed bag of returns for some of the returnees this year, though overall, it’s great to have all of them back. They all have legacies in tennis, and it’s better to have them around than not.