Naomi Osaka had a pretty decent showing at the Indian Wells Open recently, which is encouraging, but she's not targeting world number one spot right now.
Osaka didn't hide her high ambitions before her comeback, as the Japanese player truly believes that she's one of the best players at her peak. She's not wrong, and Osaka showed that level at times this week.
Unfortunately, a somewhat disjointed performance against a very solid Elise Mertens wasn't enough to win the match, but she was overall happy with the way she played.
It was by far her best level so far on the comeback, as her two most recent WTA 1000 events prove that Osaka is truly trending in the right direction.
Speaking after the loss to Mertens, Osaka admitted that she's not thinking about returning to number one but more about targeting winning events.
"You know, like, honestly, I'm not really chasing the No. 1 spot right now. Like, that's such a, if I could get there in, like, three years or, I don't even know what's going to happen in that time, but that was never really the reason I came back."
"I wanted to win more slams. That's why I came back. But I think I determine success right now just by the effort that I put in, and I feel like today I don't think I played well at all, but I tried every point."
Osaka played well at times during the match, but it was a very disjointed performance overall. Still, it's a type of show that should give her confidence moving forward, especially since the Miami Open is an event where she has played really well over the years.
She was also happy with her commitment level, as she gave it her all, even though it wasn't really her day.
"I think, like, before I was pregnant, there were a couple of matches that I didn't try as hard as I tried today, and I feel like I can walk off the court knowing that, although I'm sad about the loss, I know that I tried every possible way to get back in the match. I guess that's how I determine success right now."
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