Novak Djokovic is without a doubt a powerhouse in the world of men’s tennis and he is also having an impact on the women’s game.
Naomi Osaka hopes mirroring the Serbian’s return position during matches will bring her success in her comeback. The four-time Grand Slam champion is playing in only her fourth tournament since returning to the Tour following maternity leave. At the Doha Open, she secured back-to-back wins for the first time since 2022 after beating 15th seed Caroline Garcia and Petra Martic.
Speaking to the press following her win over Martic, the former world No.1 says she has made tweaks to her game one of them being her return position which is similar to that of Djokovic. Somebody she describes as ‘the best returner in the world.’
“I did change my return – I don’t want to say ‘style’ but I guess form. I don’t know how to describe it,” Reuters quoted Osaka as saying.
“Like, before I was taking one step, one step, and then jumping in, but now I’m just jumping in with both feet, because apparently Djokovic does that, so why not copy the best returner in the world?”
Osaka is making adjustments to her game under the watchful eye of her coach Wim Fissette, whom she has previously worked with between 2019-2022. The Dutchman reported ended his work with Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng last year to return to Osaka’s team.
“It was frustrating knowing that my serve is one of the best serves, dare I say, in the world,” she said.
“But I just really wanted to work on the things I know should be a lot better and the return was one of them. We were talking about it a lot in the off-season and leaving Melbourne, definitely needed to improve it.”
In Doha, Osaka will next play Lesia Tsurenko in the third round. It will be their fourth Tour meeting but their first since 2019. Osaka currently leads their head-to-head 2-1.
