Naomi Osaka doesn't have high expectations ahead of the 2024 Australian Open, but former WTA player and tennis analyst Laura Robson thinks she may do well because there won't be any pressure.
Osaka made her return to tennis at the Brisbane International, recently winning her first match back. She then played another solid match and was close to winning, but ultimately, she lost in three sets to Karolina Pliskova.
The overall impression she left was pretty good, and many think that she's going to be even better in Melbourne. She's been a tremendous performer in Melbourne before, so it wouldn't be unusual for her to do really well.
She doesn't expect herself to do that well, but former player Laura Robson wouldn't rule it out. Speaking ahead of the event, the Eurosport analyst believes that the lack of pressure might help with that.
"It's exciting to come back from pregnancy. I think it's less pressure. Inevitably you're going to be more relaxed because you realize tennis is just a sport and as soon as you have a family there's something that's always a bit more important than however you play that day."
It's a pretty interesting perspective by Robson, and it makes sense. The recent trend of mothers doing really well kind of proves it in practice, though every player is different, of course.
Osaka has dealt with pressure pretty well in the past, and Robson thinks the combination of her experience and just feeling a bit more relaxed than usual could help her.
"So I think without even being that aware of it, Naomi would feel more relaxed and she would feel like she can enjoy herself a bit more because that was kind of the trouble in the past before she took the break; that you felt like she was putting so much pressure on herself to play well."
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