"There’s so much guilt, you have to leave your daughter"- Kim Clijsters hopes for Naomi Osaka to shed light on mental health struggle faced by mothers

Former WTA World No. 1 Kim Clijsters has expressed her desire to see Naomi Osaka paint a proper picture of the life of a tennis professional juggling motherhood.

Osaka spent most of the 2023 season on the sidelines after announcing that she was pregnant with her first child. In July, she and her boyfriend, rapper Corade, announced that they became parents to a baby girl, whom they named Shai.

She made her tennis comeback at the Brisbane International this month, where she beat Tamara Korpatsch in the opening round before going down to Karolina Pliskova.

Clijsters, who remains the only woman since 1980 to have returned to the sport after becoming a mother and winning a Slam, is hoping that Osaka will be as vocal as she can about the mental struggles mothers go through while juggling a professional tennis career.

“Naomi Osaka, what she’s done for mental health, the awareness of it, now as a mum I hope she’s going to be open, too; open to sharing some of the mental situations that you deal with. There’s so much guilt - at least I went through - because you have to leave your daughter or son to go to practice,” she told The Telegraph.

Osaka will be joined by two other mothers, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, at the 2024 Australian Open, and Clijsters has expressed her excitement at watching them compete once again.

“I’m really excited to first of all see them all compete again and enjoy the lifestyle of being on tour. That’s the No 1 priority,” she added.

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Naomi Osaka set to compete at the 2024 Australian Open using a protected ranking

Naomi Osaka in action at the 2024 Brisbane International.

Having made her tennis comeback at the Brisbane International this month, Naomi Osaka will next take part in the Australian Open, which gets underway on Sunday, January 14.

The season-opening Melbourne Major will be Osaka's first Grand Slam appearance in 15 months. Having taken a maternity leave last year, Osaka will take part in the event using a protected ranking of 31.

With former World No. 1 not being seeded, she could be a dangerous early-round opponent for other players, according to World No. 5 Jessica Pegula.

“Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki are not going to be seeded, I don’t think, so that’s going to be really tricky. They’re going to be floating around the draw — that’s kind of scary,” she told ausopen.com.

Osaka has been pitted against Caroline Garcia for her opening match Down Under.