Naomi Osaka is way outside of the Top 10 at the moment, but she often thinks about the moment when she could return there.
Osaka's ranking plummeted due to her inactivity. While she has the means to play some big events, the Japanese player also needs to think about earning points. Eventually, she'll have to rely on that to enter events, and the way things are right now, she wouldn't even qualify for any WTA Tour-level events without a wild card or a protected ranking entry.
She's ranked outside the Top 500 but strongly desires to return to the Top 10. The best version of Osaka certainly belongs there, but having a goal of returning to the Top 10 is way different from actually doing it.
She needs to win matches, which has been a struggle so far. Even so, the Japanese player admitted in an interview with Bloomberg that she does think about it a lot.
"I do think about it. I often wonder how long it’ll take me to get to the level I want to be at. My shots are there. It’s more decision-making during the matches. It might take some time."
Thinking about something before doing it is certainly good, and some would argue that visualizing also helps. Osaka has been here before, so she knows what needs to happen for her to return to the Top 10. She also has a timeline in her mind.
"The worst result would be getting there during the US Open [late August] and the best result would be to get there around the French Open and Wimbledon."
It's good that she has a timeline in mind, but how realistic is it? She's currently sitting at 42 points, while the 10th-ranked Karolina Muchova has 3520. So, she'd need to win a couple of really big events to get there. It's not impossible, but it will take her a while.
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