From No. 1 to qualifiers: Naomi Osaka's challenging comeback journey

Former world number one Naomi Osaka is set to play in the qualifying round of the Cincinnati Open. The 26-year-old was once regarded as one of the best players in women’s tennis in the singles category.

Osaka is going through a difficult campaign. The Osaka-born star returned to the court earlier this year after spending more than 12 months on the sidelines because of pregnancy. However, her return has not gone according to the plan as she has not been able to play in the semifinal or beyond in any of the competitions this year. That performance has finally taken a toll on Osaka’s rankings as she is set to play in the qualifying round of the mega-event in Cincinnati.

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It will be the first time since 2018 that she will participate in a qualifying round of the WTA event. Her most recent appearance came in the Canadian Open, where she lost to Belgium’s Elise Mertens in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4. After losing that match, Osaka stated that she would be willing to do everything in her power to reach where she belonged in the past.

"I, unfortunately, have always suffered from, like, perfectionism and I doubt myself a lot,” she said. “But I think going through this process and having really tough losses that I've learned a lot about myself and I learned that I really love this game and am willing to do whatever it takes to get to where I feel like I deserve to be.”

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Osaka will face Russia’s Anna Blinkova in the qualifying round of the competition on Sunday. It will be only the second meeting between the two in professional tennis. In the previous meeting, which was back in the first round of the US Open back in 2019, Osaka came out on top with a score of 6-4, 6-7, 6-2.