![\"Inspiring](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133602106,imgsize-92003,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/naomi-osaka.jpg\" "\\"Naomi")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNaomi Osaka\u2019s comeback is no longer only about winning tennis matches. The four-time Grand Slam champion has rebuilt her career after stepping away from the sport for her mental health and then taking time off to have her daughter, Shai. Now ranked No. 13 in the world, Osaka is back among the leading players and recently reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal. Her journey from a young girl learning tennis with her family to a mother competing at the highest level has changed how she sees success. For Osaka, tennis is now about joy, patience, family and showing her daughter what strength can look like.<\/p>\n Naomi Osaka\u2019s story began with a family decision that shaped everything that followed. Her father, Leonard Fran\u00e7ois, is Haitian, while her mother, Tamaki Osaka, is Japanese. The family moved from Japan to the United States when Naomi was young, settling on Long Island, New York. Her older sister, Mari Osaka, also played professional tennis.Leonard became heavily involved in coaching his daughters. He was inspired by the Williams sisters and studied how Richard Williams helped develop Venus Williams and Serena Williams. The Osaka family did not have the kind of resources that could easily provide expensive tennis training, so much of Naomi\u2019s early development came through family support and hard work.Tamaki also played a major role. She worked while supporting her daughters as they pursued tennis. According to Nippon.com, the family eventually moved to the United States so Naomi and Mari could develop as tennis players, with Tamaki later working for a Japanese company while supporting their careers.That early family effort became the base for Osaka\u2019s career. She eventually became the first Japanese player to reach world No. 1 and went on to win four Grand Slam singles titles. Her major victories came at the US Open in 2018 and 2020 and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.<\/p>\n Osaka\u2019s success came with a level of pressure that became difficult for her to handle. In 2021, she withdrew from the French Open after saying she had experienced long periods of depression since winning her first Grand Slam title.The decision came after Osaka chose not to take part in post-match news conferences at Roland Garros because she said they affected her mental health. She was fined and faced criticism, but she later made it clear that protecting her well-being mattered more than meeting expectations around media duties.In her 2021 TIME essay, Osaka wrote:\u201cIt\u2019s O.K. not to be O.K., and it\u2019s O.K. to talk about it\u2026 I\u2019ve often felt that people think we\u2019re superhuman, but we\u2019re all human beings with feelings, doubts, and vulnerabilities.\u201dHer decision became part of a much bigger discussion about mental health in professional sports. The four Grand Slam tournaments later issued a statement supporting Osaka and said mental health deserved greater attention.For Osaka, the break was not simply about leaving tennis. It was about being honest about what she was experiencing instead of pretending that being a champion meant she could handle everything.<\/p>\n Osaka\u2019s next major change came in July 2023, when she gave birth to her daughter, Shai. She had been away from competitive tennis since September 2022 and missed the 2023 season while preparing for motherhood.At first, the road back was uncertain. Osaka returned to competition at the Brisbane International in January 2024, about six months after giving birth. She won her opening match against Tamara Korpatsch before losing in the second round.The comeback was not immediately smooth. At Indian Wells in March 2024, Osaka spoke about learning to be patient with herself. She had returned to the tour ranked outside the top 200 and was still trying to understand her new body and her new life as a mother.That struggle became an important part of her story. Osaka did not simply return and start winning everything again. There were losses, doubts and moments when she questioned whether she could get back to her old level.But motherhood also gave her a different reason to keep going. In a 2024 interview, Osaka explained how seeing her daughter helped her understand her own strength:\u201cIt felt like I was driving a car that wasn\u2019t mine, my body didn\u2019t feel like the body that I was used to,\u201d Osaka said. \u201cIt was in that journey that I learned how to love myself as I am now, and it was a really special feeling. I got to wake up every day and see my daughter and know that I was strong enough for her to come into this world.\u201dThat idea has remained central to Osaka\u2019s comeback. She has spoken about wanting her daughter to see her play and understand that being a mother did not mean giving up on her own dreams.Her 2025 documentary Naomi Osaka: The Second Set<\/span> took that message even further. In the trailer, Osaka says:\u201cI have multiple identities. My return to the sport is a love letter for moms.\u201dShe also adds:\u201cSome people say she ended my career, but for me it feels like she started my career.\u201dThe documentary follows Osaka as she tries to balance motherhood with the demands of professional tennis.<\/p>\n Osaka\u2019s latest results show that her comeback is no longer just a personal story. She is once again competing deep into major tournaments.At Wimbledon in July 2026, Osaka defeated world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round, winning 6-2, 7-6(2). The victory sent Osaka into her first Wimbledon quarterfinal and marked her first win over Sabalenka in eight years. She later lost to Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinal.She also reached the quarterfinals in Toronto in August, beating Leylah Fernandez before losing to Elena Rybakina. Osaka said the run gave her confidence and reflected how much her game had changed since returning after pregnancy.\u201cIt\u2019s a big confidence boost, but I\u2019m the type of person who\u2019s just happy to play more and more matches,\u201d Osaka said. \u201cComing back after pregnancy, I was really eager to play the best players, and now I\u2019m able to play them and go toe-to-toe. So I\u2019m just really happy about that.\u201dAs the 2026 US Open begins, Osaka is ranked No. 13 and is a seeded player again. That is a major change from her early comeback, when she was ranked outside the top 200.There is still a long way to go before she can add a fifth Grand Slam title. But that is not the only reason her return matters. Osaka has gone through the pressure of becoming a champion, the difficulty of protecting her mental health, the physical challenge of returning after pregnancy and the demands of raising a child while competing.She is now playing with a different idea of what success means. The trophies still matter, but so does being able to enjoy the sport, care for herself and give her daughter an example of what it means to keep trying.That may be the most meaningful part of Naomi Osaka\u2019s second chapter: she did not return as the exact same player who left. She returned as a mother, a stronger voice for mental health and an athlete who has learned that stepping back does not mean giving up.<\/div>\n Naomi Osaka\u2019s secret to staying grounded as fame (Getty Images) Naomi Osaka\u2019s comeback is no longer only about winning tennis matches. The four-time Grand Slam champion has rebuilt her career after stepping away from the sport for her mental health and then taking time off to have her daughter, Shai. Now ranked No. 13 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Naomi Osaka\u2019s secret to staying grounded as fame (Getty Images) Naomi Osaka\u2019s comeback is no longer only about winning tennis matches. The four-time Grand Slam champion has rebuilt her career after stepping away from the sport for her mental health and then taking time off to have her daughter, Shai. Now ranked No. 13 in […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":7,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/naomi-osaka.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How did Leonard Fran\u00e7ois and Tamaki Osaka help Naomi Osaka build her tennis career<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Why did Naomi Osaka step away from tennis after the 2021 French Open<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
How did motherhood change Naomi Osaka\u2019s relationship with tennis<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What makes Naomi Osaka\u2019s 2026 tennis comeback so inspiring<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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