Former world number one Justine Henin warned Naomi Osaka about the difficulty of a tennis comeback while admiring her willingness to do so.
Justine Henin was a tremendous tennis player at her peak, one of those who could really step up and even challenge the likes of Serena Williams. She played a one-handed backhand and hit about as hard as you possibly could, which was the basis of her success.
Nowadays, the Belgian steps in occasionally with tennis analysis, most notably for Eurosport. In her most recent talk with the channel, Henin talked about Naomi Osaka and her chances at the Australian Open.
Osaka missed over a year of action due to her pregnancy and a tennis break that came before the pregnancy. She returned to Brisbane and won her first match back before suffering a somewhat surprising loss to Karolina Pliskova, especially since she was on the cusp of winning the match.
That match demonstrated well that the comeback wouldn't be smooth sailing, and that's what Henin talked about.
"Naomi Osaka, it's going to be great to see her back now on the courts [but] in what condition is very hard to say. It's going to bring some answers, but it's only the beginning of something."
"Coming back is never easy. I went through it also after a year and for most, I had success because I played the final of the Australian Open after a long stop."
As somebody who has gone through what Osaka has gone through, Henin just knows how it is. That's why she also has tremendous respect for everything she's been able to do so far and looks forward to seeing what is going to happen.
"But we also know that we have women who had babies, we have players who stopped for a long time and will come back. It's different situations and I admire [it] because we know how much effort it takes to come back physically being a mother."
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