Updated On: 11 January, 2025 07:41 AM IST | Melbourne | AFP
Osaka took a 15-month break to give birth to her first child in 2023 and returned to the circuit 12 months ago

Japan’s Naomi Osaka during a training session in Melbourne yesterday. Pic/AFP
Naomi Osaka declared Friday that she would “for sure” play her first-round match at the Australian Open after suffering an abdominal injury last week.
The Japanese star reached her first final since 2022 last week in Auckland, only to retire injured after winning the first set against Denmark’s Clara Tauson. “In that moment it was devastating,” admitted two-time Australian Open champion Osaka, a former World No. 1.