"People were too quick to get down on Naomi Osaka" - Mark Petchey believes Japanese tennis star is 'going to be a danger' in postpartum comeback

Former tennis player Mark Petchey recently suggested that Naomi Osaka would soon be a threat to other players on the WTA Tour.

Osaka returned to competitive tennis in January 2024 after a pregnancy break that stretched over a year and three months. She struggled to win matches in the first few tournaments she played after her comeback.

She began the 2024 season at Brisbane International, where she lost to Karolina Pliskova in the second round. A few weeks later, she suffered a first-round defeat to Caroline Garcia at the Australian Open. Similarly, she crashed out of the Abu Dhabi Open after losing to Danielle Collins in the tournament opener.

However, Osaka most recently found her feet as she made a run to the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open 2024. She avenged her Melbourne loss to Garcia as she defeated the Frenchwoman 7-5, 6-4 to kick things off in Doha. She overcame Petra Martic and received a walkover in the Round of 16.

Naomi Osaka lost 7-6(6), 7-6(5) to Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals, but pushed the Czech Republican to the limits. She nullified two breaks of her serve by breaking back to keep Pliskova on her toes as the two-setter witnessed two tiebreaks. With her recent efforts, the Japanese star has earned Mark Petchey's faith.

Petchey recently appeared in an episode of the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast and claimed that the tennis world apparently wrote Naomi Osaka off too quickly.

"I thought people were too quick to get down on Naomi after that loss. I thought people were… I mean they already wrote her down on natural surfaces, probably they were thinking it was the US Open and I was like, ‘No, she looked good, she just didn’t have the time on the ball because Caroline played great'," Petchey said. (at 20:00)

"I’m delighted that she has bounced back quickly to win those matches," he added. "She’s in good shape. I don’t mean that as physical, I mean she’s in good shape hitting the ball, physically, mentally, she looks happy, I think she’s going to be a danger."

---

"If Naomi Osaka had got even a half-decent draw in Australia, she could have been in the fourth round or quarters" - Mark Petchey

Naomi Osaka

In the aforementioned episode of the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, Mark Petchey further noted that Naomi Osaka had too tough of an opponent in Caroline Garcia at the Australian Open.

"I saw her [Naomi Osaka's] match live against Garcia. It’s a completely different rhythm. You just don’t practice against that. She played great Garcia, I promise you if she could put six more matches back to back, she could have won the title," Petchey said. (at 19:36)

The Brit also claimed that Naomi Osaka would have made decent runs at the Brisbane International and the Melbourne Major if she had not drawn the likes of Garcia and Karolina Pliskova.

"It [draw] was horrible, I mean Pliskova and Garcia. I swear if she had got even a half-decent draw in Australia, she could have been in the fourth round or quarters the way that I thought she was hitting the ball," Petchey added.