Kim Clijsters has offered some encouraging words for Naomi Osaka as the Belgian former world No. 1 thinks the Japanese is “doing all the right things” and she can expect to make some noise if she continues this way.
As you probably already know very well by now, the 26-year-old returned to tennis with a rediscovered joy and passion for the game. But so far in her post-pregnancy comeback, the four-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t managed to accomplish her goal of returning to being one of the best in the game.
While Osaka has had some notable performances and wins this year, it was evident many times that she felt crushed following a loss and that it wasn’t easy for her to deal with failing to meet her expectations. Just recently after losing in the Cincinnati qualifying final round, she issued a lengthy message in which she opened up about the struggles and the “out of body experience” she was going through.
When it comes to on-court stuff, the Japanese tennis star nearly became the first player since 2021 to beat Iga Swiatek at the French Open as she was 5-2 up in the third set of their match and even had a match point before ultimately losing to the world No. 1 in a thriller.
Reflecting on that, Clijsters described it as “a pinnacle moment” for Osaka’s game since she…
