"Am I the only one who thinks it's unhealthy?" - Tennis fans react to Naomi Osaka being back in training just days after giving birth

Naomi Osaka captured training days after giving birth to her daughter
Naomi Osaka captured training days after giving birth to her daughter

Several tennis fans on social media have expressed concern about Naomi Osaka's return to training mere days after giving birth.

Osaka recently gave birth to her baby daughter, Shia, with longtime boyfriend and three-time Grammy-nominated rap artist Cordae. The Japanese star's last appearance on the WTA Tour was in September 2022. She pulled out of the 2023 Australian Open and publicly announced her pregnancy in January.

Although Osaka's pregnancy announcement mentioned that she was aiming for a return at the 2024 Melbourne Major, new developments suggest otherwise. The 25-year-old seems eager to get in shape for a comeback.

In a video posted on social media, the four-time Grand Slam champion was seen doing lateral hurdle jumps on a synthetic race track. One fan responded by saying they were happy about Osaka's return, before questioning whether it was healthy for her to do so during the postpartum period.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to have Naomi back, but... 15 days? Am I the only one who thinks it's unhealthy and is creating a pressure to come back as soon as possible?"

Another fan claimed that athletes' bodies are "built different" and that Osaka wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't approved by her doctors.

"Honestly, I think she has a good medical team around her + doctors and she definitely asked if she can do it? these women are built different, they literally train during pregnancy too, so I think she wouldn't do this if she wasn't allowed to by her doctors."

Here are some more reactions from tennis fans:

Naomi Osaka is currently at her lowest rank since 2013

Naomi Osaka at the 2022 US Open
Naomi Osaka at the 2022 US Open

As a consequence of her lengthy absence from the tour, Naomi Osaka has fallen down the WTA rankings and currently holds the 439th spot. Osaka held the same rank nearly 10 years ago, in the first week of December 2013, and ended the year ranked No. 430.

Before announcing her withdrawal from the Australian Open and with it, her maternity leave, Naomi Osaka was ranked World No. 42.

The four-time Grand Slam attained the No. 1 spot on January 28, 2019, and enjoyed her time as the top female tennis player in the world for 25 weeks.

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