Will Naomi Osaka play in the 2023 WTA Tour?
One of the most recognizable faces on the WTA Tour has been missing lately, and it looks as if she may not be back soon. Naomi Osaka is taking time out for motherhood.
At the start of 2022, Naomi Osaka was one of the most familiar, and valuable, players on the world tennis stage. She had earned more money than any other female athlete in 2020, the same year that she became the first tennis player ever to light the Olympic cauldron when the games were held in Tokyo. The following year, she was named the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year. She was, in every sense of the phrase, on top of the world. And then she walked away.
Column inches and heated arguments were devoted to her announcement that she needed time off for her own mental health. Sponsors were unhappy. Announcers were livid. Players and fans rallied to her support. After being sued for supporting a failed crypto currency company, the shy Osaka was pushed further into a spotlight that she has so stringently tried to avoid.
With some trepidation, she made her return to the WTA Tour only to be brought to tears by an idiot at the notoriously classless Indian Wells. She started to fan out into other directions, becoming part owner of a women’s professional soccer team in North Carolina and investor in a pro pickleball team in Miami, all while staying firmly in the world top 50 rankings.
Now, she has revealed that she will miss much of the 2023 season, but for a different, and infinitely more heartwarming, reason. Naomi Osaka and her partner, rapper Cordae, are expecting their first child.
She expects that in the long view of things, “2023 will be a year that’ll be full for lessons for me.”
Osaka went on to say, “The past few years have been interesting to say the least, but I find that it is the most challenging times in life that may be the most fun.”
Any thought that her mind is not on tennis, though, were put to rest. “These few months away from the sport have really given me a new love and appreciation for the game I’ve dedicated my life to. I realise that life is so short and I don’t take any moments for granted, every day is a new blessing and adventure. I know I have so much to look forward to in the future.”
Noting that she hopes to return for next year’s Australian Open, Osak names the biggest thing that she is looking forward to is “for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, ‘that’s my mom’.”
That sounds just wonderful to us, Naomi.