After recently embracing motherhood,  Naomi Osaka has now started a new chapter of her competitive journey. As she is juggling the roles of an athlete and a parent, the Japanese tennis star has made a robust return to the tour following her season-long maternity break. Though there is a lot of skepticism surrounding her on-court levels, a renowned tennis journalist recently issued a bold ‘Grand Slam’ prediction about Osaka.

Winning the Grand Slam while being a parent is undoubtedly a challenging task for WTA players. Even the likes of Serena Williams have failed to do so after coming close to it on four occasions. However, Ben Rothenberg recently opened up about how he believes that Osaka will succeed where the American tennis icon didn’t during her journey on the tour.

The tennis bigwig on how Naomi Osaka can pull off a rare feat on the women’s tour

After the Belgian tennis veteran Kim Kleister, no WTA player has managed to win a Grand Slam title as a parent on the tour.  Notably, in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Ben Rothenberg was asked if he believes that Naomi Osaka can also enter this elite tennis mom club.

He answered, “I think she has a chance for sure from what we’re seeing. I mean, I’m not gonna say it’s a guarantee that she’s gonna do it, but she certainly has a chance with how she’s playing. And yes, Serena couldn’t do it. Azarenka hasn’t done it so far. And one of the things that Serena and Azarenka have in common for their motherhood, falling short, is they both lost to Naomi Osaka in a grand slam final as mothers.”

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After mentioning the likes of other tennis moms, including Williams and Azarenka, the renowned tennis journalist said, “I mean, there’s great young players coming up all the time and it’s not just about Naomi. It’s also about the way her competition is across the net. So it’s not totally Naomi’s destiny to choose.” During the conversation, Rothenberg also hailed Osaka for her first-round victory at her comeback tournament, the Brisbane International.

The renowned tennis journalist lauds Osaka’s recent performances

In her comeback match in Brisbane, the 4-time singles Grand Slam champion breezed past her German opponent Tamara Korpatsch as she clinched a straight sets victory, 6-3, 7-6. While lavishing praise on her recent stellar performance,  Rothenberg opened up about how he is now excited to see Osaka after her comeback this season.

He stated, “But when she’s at her best, I do think that she remains one of the best. I think we saw that in Brisbane already, and that was a pretty clear reminder of what she’s capable of. So, yeah, I’m excited to see what she can do and she seems motivated. And if she does, it would be an incredible accomplishment for sure.”

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Do you think that the Japanese tennis player can pull off this rare ‘tennis mom’ by winning a Grand Slam title? Let us know in the comments section. 

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