Naomi Osaka set to leap up nearly 500 places minimum in WTA Rankings in current Qatar Open run, could be near top 60 in title win

Former world number one Naomi Osaka is set for a huge leap in rankings with her impressive performance in the Qatar Open.

The 26-year-old recently returned to professional tennis after a break of more than one year. Her return has not gone as planned and she suffered some disappointing results.

However, things are likely to change with her impressive performances in the ongoing WTA 1000 event in Qatar where there are 1,000 points up for grabs for the players.

Osaka started the competition at the 747 spot in the WTA ranking but has now leapt to the 461 spot after booking her place in the quarterfinal of the event. With a win in the last eight, she can improve her ranking to under 200 whereas a title triumph will push her to the 65th spot in the rankings.

Osaka was awarded a walkover in the round of 16 tie against Lesia Tsurenko and she is now set to face off the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova in the last-eight clash. Before the start of the tournament, the four-time Grand Slam winner stated that she was feeling good and motivated.

“I definitely feel like I’m a lot more motivated and every minute matters for me,” she said. “I’m feeling pretty good about myself which is a bit strange because I think I had less confidence in my last tournament but it’s really nice to be back and playing the best players in the world.

“I was changing my return a little bit so it’s a bit tough to play a match and not feel comfortable with what you’re doing. You kind of want to revert back to your old style but I think for me the biggest thing is being confident in myself and knowing that I don’t have to go for winners when I don’t need to and trusting myself a lot.”