Naomi Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion, so her return to action this year was always going to heighten expectations.
Osaka ended her 15-month hiatus when she rejoined the WTA Tour at the start of 2024. Her restart wasn't fruitful because she lost three straight matches from Brisbane to Abu Dhabi.
But her results gradually improved. She reached a first quarterfinal at the WTA 1000 in Doha, although she couldn't compete in Dubai. Osaka's next two tournaments were in the Sunshine Swing.
She attained back-to-back third-round finishes in Indian Wells and Miami. At the start of April, Osaka helped Japan qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals with a comfortable win over Kazakhstan.
The 26-year-old's first stop on the European clay swing was Rouen, where she lost to Martina Trevisan. However, it only took Osaka a few more days to adapt to the dirt, and wins have been piling up.
Victory over Marta Kostyuk at the Italian Open on Thursday was her first over a Top 20 player on clay and her third match win on the surface so far this year.
While the level of expectations from fans and the media is understandable for a player like Osaka, who ought to be playing final weekends regularly, the Japanese star revealed in an interview on Tennis Channel when she expects to do so, citing the need to add more matches under her belt.
"I told people like September, US hard court is probably, maybe, where I will make a big result, but other than that I will try as hard as I can."
"You know for me I feel like I obviously don't have as many matches under my belt as the players that I'm playing. So, you know I'm just trying to be as humble as I can. I really want to win and I'm really taking all the steps that I can to do that, but I know it's a process and yeah I'm just trying as hard as I can every point."