Wilander unsure if Osaka will ever win Grand Slams in the future: "It's going to be tough for her"

WTA
Saturday, 22 January 2022 at 07:00
Naomi Osaka Australian open 2021 2

After suffering a third round loss to Amanda Anisimova at the Australian Open, Mats Wilander is uncertain if Naomi Osaka will ever rediscover her Grand Slam winning ways.

Although the Japanese superstar told reports after the match that she couldn't be expected to win every time, Wilander believes it will be a long road back to the top for the former World No.1.

“I'm not sure if we're going to ever see the great Naomi Osaka, who's going to win Grand Slam tournaments, again,” said Wilander. "But I think it's really important we realize that it's going to be tough for her."

“I don’t think we should expect Osaka of old to be back and I think she needs to look forwards.”

Tennis great John McEnroe chimed in on the subject, praising Osaka for speaking about her mental health issues during her post-match conference.

“It is an extremely difficult position she has in some ways put herself in,” said McEnroe. “Bringing the concept of mental health to the forefront of the conversation is a great idea, but it has brought attention to her.

"However, now we're going to be discussing in more detail how is she going to handle losing match points? How is she going to handle losing early? Is she going to play a lot of events before the French Open? Will she play Wimbledon? She is going to have a lot more light on her and she is going to have to be prepared to handle that.”

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