Journalist Ben Rothenberg has a book on Naomi Osaka coming out later this year and he talked about her pregnancy announcement on BBC Live Sport.
Rothenberg did a lot of reporting and work for his upcoming Naomi Osaka biography and he's quite in tune with what has been going on in her career in life. Joining BBC Live Sport, the American talked about her pregnancy announcement and what it means for her tennis career moving forward:
"It's an interesting development for her. This comes at a time when there are already a lot of question marks."
He reflected on the last six months of her career explaining that she really didn't think or focus on tennis at all:
"She split with her coach and hadn't hired a replacement. She played a very thin schedule. She skipped over some North American hard court events, and didn't play San Diego or Guadalajara. She joined her boyfriend on his European Tour."
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It's clear that tennis wasn't a priority for Osaka in recent months and her actions prove that. He also noted that this pregnancy is different than those of some other players:
"It's different than Serena or Azarenka who were at the top of their game. This happened at a reset time for Naomi so it's interesting to see how this changes her as a player."