Naomi Osaka Is Officially Returning to Tennis

After more than a year away from the courts, Naomi Osaka will be back to competitive tennis at the 2024 Australian Open. The tournament is set to kick off on Jan. 14, 2024, and will mark Osaka's first matches since the Pan Pacific Open in Sept. 2022. Since then, the former no. 1 player in the world has taken time off to welcome her daughter, Shai.

During an interview on Australia's Today Show, Craig Tiley, the tournament's director, shared the news. The announcement also came via the Australian Open's Instagram account.

Just last month, Osaka opened up to ESPN about feeling “lonely” during her pregnancy. At the time, she didn't mention a timeframe for her return, though she did say that she was optimistic about having a good "end of the year."

"I realized that I don't know how the beginning of the year is going to go for me," she said. "I don't know the level of play, and I think I have to ease into it. At the very least, I'm going to set myself up for a very good end of the year."

Osaka also teased her comeback on Instagram (maybe). Yesterday, she posted a clip of herself hitting the ball and offered a little bit of levity at the same time.

"Back at it. (second slide lol 😖)," she captioned the two videos.

In addition to Osaka, former Australian Open champs Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber are also confirmed to compete. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal plans to compete in January after withdrawing from the French Open and the remainder of the 2023 tournaments. 

Nadal confirmed his interest in the tournament on Twitter, and although Tiley told CNN that he would be ready to play, Nadal didn't want to make anything official just yet.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence from the Australian Open … I am practicing every day and working hard to come back asap," Nadal wrote. In May, as he was recovering from an injury, Nadal shared that the "reality" of the situation was not what he and his team "had hoped for." "We find ourselves in a situation that is difficult," he wrote at the time.