"New, young players have come up and Naomi Osaka's going to have to contend with that" - Jimmy Connors on Japanese's Australian Open comeback

Former World No. 1 Jimmy Connors has stated that Naomi Osaka will have to deal with the newer, younger players who have established themselves in her absence.

Osaka missed all of the 2023 season 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.

The four-time Grand Slam champion returned to action at the Brisbane International earlier this month, where she beat Tamara Korpatsch before going down to Karolina Pliskova in the second round.

Reflecting on Osaka's comeback this year, Connors stated that the 26-year-old has rediscovered her love for tennis in her time away and will be interesting to keep an eye on this year.

“Yeah, having Osaka be what 14 to one (odds to win the Australian Open title) after taking that amount of time off and I think she had a baby also, right? So you know to come back after that, you're either going to be beyond eager or… I have no idea what to think of that and how she’s going to handle that,” he said on the latest episode of the Advantage Connors podcast.

“Unless she took time away and fulfilled a lot of her thoughts, her inner thoughts, and what was important to her. And now she also finds out how important tennis is to her. So she's very comfortable with the baby and everything that that part of her life brings. And so she says ‘Now you know, I'm gonna get back and give it a go on something else I love.’ And that's the game of tennis. So it will be interesting to see, fun to watch her play,” he added.

That said, Connors remarked that a lot of younger players have established themselves on the WTA tour in Osaka's absence and she will have to deal with that too on her comeback.

“A lot of things have happened since she's been away. New, young, fresh players have come up to fill a lot of the spots and she's going to have to contend with that,” he opined.

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"I'm glad playing a seed" - Naomi Osaka set to face Caroline Gracia in 2024 Australian Open 1R

Naomi Osaka during a training session ahead of the 2024 Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

Naomi Osaka will next be in action at the Australian Open, which gets underway on Sunday, January 14. She is taking part in the event using a protected ranking of 31.

Osaka is scheduled to play 16th seed Caroline Garcia in the first round at Melbourne Park. Speaking at a press conference ahead of that match, she expressed confidence in her own game and stated that she was glad to be facing a seeded player in her opening match.

"My immediate thought [on being drawn against Garcia] was "Okay, this is tough." But I definitely think I can achieve what I want to achieve. Hopefully during the match I'm able to have things go my way. In a weird way, I'm glad I'm playing a seed so that, hopefully, if I get through that, the next match won't be as difficult," Naomi Osaka said.

The former World No. 1 is in the bottom half of the women’s draw, which is headlined by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.