Naomi Osaka makes her feelings known after reaching ASB Classic SF to start 2025 season

Naomi Osaka delved into her perfect start to the 2025 season after staging a resilient comeback against Hailey Baptiste in the quarterfinals of the 2025 ASB Classic. The Japanese has made it to her first semifinal after becoming a mother.

Osaka kicked off her 2025 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland as the seventh seed. She claimed straight-set wins over Lina Glushko and Julia Grabher following which she contested Baptiste in the final 8. After a hard-fought opening set went the American's way, the 27-year-old turned things in dominant fashion to win (2)6-7, 6-1, 6-2.

During her post-match interview, Osaka expressed her delight at making her first tour-level semifinals since the 2022 Miami Open, which was a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Belinda Bencic. She said that having self-belief and being confident helped her achieve the desired results.

“I think the key focuses I had were to have a lot of belief and confidence in myself. I think I put a lot of work in throughout last year. Even though the results didn’t show it, I think just continuing to try as hard as I can and to see where it gets me.”

She also gave a nod to Baptiste for putting on a brave performance despite struggling with an injury.

“She’s an amazing player. It sucks that she was injured but I think we played a high quality match. I’m glad to have played a 3-set match because it’s kind of the experience I need.”

Interestingly, the four-time Grand Slam champion had recently opened up about the possibility of leaving tennis if she didn't find the desired results.

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"I don't think I'm the type of player that would hang around" - Naomi Osaka on wanting to quit tennis for her daughter Shai

In Picture: Naomi Osaka - Source: Getty

Naomi Osaka returned to tennis last year after giving birth to her daughter Shai in 2023. However, the Japanese was unable to find her rhythm and struggled to replicate her success from the past.

During a recent interview with the Associated Press, Osaka candidly said that if her run of underwhelming results persists, she may consider hanging up her racket to instead spend some quality time with her daughter.

“I don’t think I’m the type of player that would hang around,” Osaka told reporters. “I have a lot of respect for all the players on tour, but the point of my life that I’m at right now, if I’m not above a certain ranking, I don’t see myself playing for a while."

“I’d rather spend time with my daughter if I’m not where I think I should be and where I feel like I can be."

Naomi Osaka will play either Katie Volynets or Alycia Parks in the semifinals of the ASB Classic.