Naomi Osaka felt 'like a kid again' watching Carlos Alcaraz in time away from tennis, set to use secret weapon from his arsenal

WTA
Sunday, 31 December 2023 at 10:30
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Former world number one Japan’s Naomi Osaka has revealed that she fell in love with tennis once again after watching some youngsters play the game including the likes of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
The 26-year-old has not played the sport at the highest level for more than a year after she opted to stay on the sidelines because of pregnancy. Osaka has gained some pace in the recent past in order to return to the court in 2024.
The Osaka-born was recently quoted in a report where she stated that she fell in love with tennis once again after watching youngsters play the sport including men’s current world number two and already two-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz.
“Of course, I’m not going to sit here and say that I’ve never loved tennis,” she said. “Of course I loved it. I think after a certain point, I just felt more relieved to win, if that makes sense. It was a little hard dealing with that. Instead of being happy to win, I felt more relief,” she explained.
“Yeah, I think for me just having this time away watching other players, appreciating them a lot. I remember watching Wimbledon, watching Alcaraz going to the court and practising drop shots because I’m going to play like drop shots like he does. I guess in a way being a kid again, being inspired by other players, wanting to play on the big courts.”
Osaka, talking about her potential return in 2024, stated that she is feeling a bit ‘nervous’. “I feel definitely I’m nervous, I haven’t played a match in a long time, but I’m competitive so I’m thinking I’m nervous and I want to win. There’s a lot of things that are going on in my head,” she said.
“I think the biggest thing is just walking onto the court and sort of absorbing all the energy and experiencing the atmosphere for me is something that I’m definitely going to treasure a lot.”

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