DOHA, Qatar— Former world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan avenged her first-round defeat to Caroline Garcia at the Australian Open by beating the French world number 21, 7-5 6-4 at the Qatar Open in Doha.
The Japanese four-time Grand Slam winner was exacting a small measure of revenge on Garcia with this 7-5, 6-4 success in Doha as it was the French star Garcia who knocked her out in the first round of last month’s Australian Open.
And she reckons she is beginning to find her stride again after becoming a mum.
“I feel like I’m a much better player now. In Australia, my returns weren’t as good and I don’t feel like I was as focused as I am now,” said the match winner.
On coming back physically after pregnancy she added: “It’s been a really tough journey.
“I felt like I was chasing myself in the past and it honestly wasn’t really healthy to do.
“After giving birth, I feel I trained really quickly, I’m a very big perfectionist and it’s tough when you don’t see results as quickly.
“I felt like I was driving a car that wasn’t mine. So my body didn’t feel like the body that I was used to.”
“It was in that journey I felt like I learned how to love myself as I am now. I got to wake up every day and see my daughter and know that I was strong enough for her to come into this world.”
Elsewhere, Carlos Alcaraz will have the chance to win the Olympic tennis title at Roland Garros this year as well as the French Open crown and while he will be gunning for both the Spaniard said if forced to choose he would pick the Paris Games gold.
The Olympic tennis tournament will take place in July, a month after the year’s second Grand Slam on the same claycourts in the French capital.
“For me, it’s a dream to bring a medal to my country and winning gold is one of the greatest things that can happen to you in the world of sport,” Alcaraz told reporters in Buenos Aires according to Reuters, where he will defend his title later this week.
“This year, if you gave me a choice, I’d say that I will keep the Olympic gold, although I would like to win both. I’m not going to lie.”
The 20-year-old won the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon last year but failed to add to his Grand Slam collection last month after going out in the Australian Open quarter-finals to Alexander Zverev, who won Olympic gold in Tokyo.
While German Zverev leads their career meetings 5-3, Alcaraz said world number one Novak Djokovic and Melbourne Park champion Jannik Sinner were top of the tree.
“I think Djokovic and Sinner are the rivals to beat, there is no doubt, both for me and for everyone,” world number two Alcaraz added.
“Zverev also has the winning head-to-head against me, he’s a rival I have very much in my mind, but I do think that Djokovic and Sinner are at the top right now.”
