April 11, (THEWILL) – Former world number one, Naomi Osaka, is set to return to the prestigious BJK Cup this Friday, as she aims to book her spot in the Japanese team for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
Osaka, a four-time major winner, has been named in the Japan squad to face Kazakhstan in Tokyo, marking her first appearance in the team competition since February 2020. This absence means she has not fulfilled the obligation of making it to two ties in one Olympic cycle, and if she is to earn a place in the Japan team for the Paris Games, “she’ll need to go through the appeals process,” a spokesman for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) told AFP.
However, the ITF also reserves a place in each singles draw at the Games for a Grand Slam title winner, providing Osaka with an additional avenue to compete in the prestigious event. The Japanese star was absent from the tour from September 2022 until January this year after giving birth to her first child, and her return to action has been nothing short of impressive. At the Australian Open, she was ranked a lowly 831, but a quarter-final run in Qatar followed by back-to-back third round spots at Indian Wells and Miami have lifted her to just inside the top 200 and number four in Japan.
The singles event at the Olympics is limited to 64 players, with a maximum of four from each nation. Osaka has already experienced the Olympics, lighting the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 where she went on to make the third round. That appearance came just months after she withdrew from the French Open at Roland Garros – the venue for this summer’s Olympics tennis event – citing mental health issues.
Japan’s tie with Kazakhstan on Friday and Saturday will be staged at Tokyo’s Ariake Coliseum, the venue for the 2021 Olympic tournament. “She said that she wants to play, so I’m really happy,” local media quoted Japan captain Ai Sugiyama as saying when the team for this weekend was announced.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
