Naomi Osaka took a big step forward this past week in her tennis comeback bid.
After taking six months off for maternity leave, her ranking dropped to 883rd on the professional women’s tennis circuit. reports Tennis365.
However, after advancing to the quarter-finals this past week in Doha she’s expected to leap 461 spots when the new rankings are released Monday, February 19.
Her climb has been slow but steady since returning in January.
She faced 80th ranked Tamara Korpatsch in her first tournament back at the Brisbane Open. Osaka won 6-3, 7-6, only to lose to the former number 1 ranked Karolina Plíšková in the second round.
However, that was enough for her to advance to 774th, reported Sports24 News.
Tennis Infinity anticipates she’ll jump to 286 on Monday.
This after losing to Karolina Pliskova in the round of eight at the Qatar Open this past week.
It was Osaka’s best performance in a couple of years. Former tennis great Chris Evert responded with some encouraging words for the Japanese star.
“It was a matter of time. Greatness doesn’t disappear,” Evert said in a post on X.
Osaka responded to Evert with a few endearing emojis.
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