The Billie Jean Cup Qualifiers will take place on 12 April and 13 April. 16 teams will go head to head against each other, out of which only 8 teams will qualify for the 2024 BJK Cup Finals in Seville later this year. The Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo will host the match between Japan (20) and Kazakhstan (9) on day 1 of the tournament. Naomi Osaka is all set to make a return to the court in Japanese colors at the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time since February 2020. She’ll take on Kazakhstan’s top-ranked player, Yulia Putintseva, in her first match.

Naomi Osaka made a comeback this year after a 15-month-long hiatus from competitive tennis during which she also gave birth to her daughter Shai, in July last year. Since January, the 26-year-old Japanese tennis star has risen more than 600 places to become the number 193 in women’s singles ranking. Yulia Putintseva, on the other hand, is on the verge of equalling Yaroslava Shvedova in second place on the list for most BJK Cup match wins. But to get there, she needs to win three more matches this weekend. 

Naomi Osaka vs Yulia Putintseva: Preview

The four-time Grand Slam champion is now looking forward to making a successful return in Japanese color at the BJK Cup and getting an inch closer to booking her tickets for the Paris Olympics. But the journey won’t be too easy for the former world number one. If we look at her records this year, Naomi Osaka has played 13 matches so far this season. And her most notable performance came at the Qatar Open where she reached the quarterfinals.

Naomi Osaka has managed to hit 107 aces so far this season and she has committed 43 double faults. If we look more closely at her statistics for 2024, the Japanese tennis superstar has won 81.7% of her service games. She has won 76.2% of her first serves and 23.7% of her return games. Although, Naomi Osaka has vowed to play “sane and strategic” tennis on her return to the BJK Cup. But it certainly won’t be a cakewalk for the Japanese against Putintseva. Here’s why.

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The 29-year-old tennis star from Kazakhstan is a three-time quarterfinalist at the Grand Slam events. Naomi Osaka has previously struggled against Putintseva whenever they met earlier on the tour. Putintseva is already listed among the three Kazakhstani players to record 20 or more wins in the competition. She’s, in fact, one of the three Kazakhstani players to contest in 25 or more ties. So, she has the experience, but does she have the numbers?

If we look at her numbers for this year, Yulia Putintseva has played 17 matches so far this season. In those matches, she has managed to hit 16 aces and has committed 28 double faults. Serve is one area in which she would love to do much better against her Japanese opponent. She has won 60.9% of her service games so far this season. Putintseva has won 58.4% of her first serves this season and won 42.4% of her return games. Although, Naomi Osaka looks sightly ahead looking at these stats. But H2H tells a different story.

Osaka vs Putintseva: Head-to-Head

Both of them have crossed their roads four times in their career so far. Currently, the Kazakhstani tennis star leads the H2H against the Japanese by a 3-1 margin. They first met at the Hobart International in 2018, where Yulia Putintseva defeated Naomi Osaka by 6-3,6-3. This was followed by yet another comprehensive victory against the Japanese as they took on each other at the Birmingham Classic a year later. In that match, Putintseva defeated Osaka by a 6-2,6-3 margin.

Next came the 2019 Wimbledon, yet again the same outcome at the end of the match. But this time the Japanese showed her mighty grit. She gave a tough fight in the first set but lost the match by 7-6(4),6-2. However, Naomi Osaka didn’t miss the opportunity to take her revenge on Yulia Putintseva when they faced each other in Tokyo at the Japan Women’s Open. In that match, Osaka had the last laugh defeating the Kazakhstani by 6-4,6-4. Yet again, they will face each other at Naomi Osaka’s home soil. What will be the outcome of this match?

Prediction: Osaka to win this match in front of her home fans

Although Naomi Osaka didn’t have a great start to her season, losing 6 out of her 13 matches so far. But if we look at her record in the Billie Jean King Cup, she has won 5 out of 7 matches representing her nation in this tournament. Her overall win-loss record is currently 272-154, can she outclass Putintseva in her next match?

Here’s what Osaka said on her return, “It has definitely been a while since I played in Japan [September 2022]. And I would say the type of play I would like to show everyone is something really sane.” She revealed that she has become a bit more strategic in her games and has assured she ain’t doing any “crazy” things in her next match. “I am really excited to be back in the team atmosphere,” Naomi Osaka.

Well, Yulia Putintseva on the other hand, has a win-loss record of 14-9 so far this season. She is now looking forward to helping Kazakhstan reach the Finals for the third time in the history of this tournament. What did she say before facing the former world no.1? “I’m always ready to be No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 – the main thing is to bring victories to the team. We have an excellent chance of a successful performance, we just need to take it.“

Putintseva added, “I played with Naomi several times and I know how to act against her. With my coach, I will further analyse the game that she has shown in her recent matches.” Japan are just one win away from their first BJK Cup Finals. It’ll be interesting to see if Naomi Osaka can help her nation reach this historic feat.

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