Four-time Grand Slam winner (two Australian Opens, two US Opens) Naomi Osaka is back after a 15-month leave, during which she welcomed her first child, Shai. In Brisbane ahead of the Australian Open, Osaka appeared in excellent form. Her ball-striking was clean, and equally powerful. (She also exuded confidence in an eye-catching Louis Vuitton necklace.) At that tournament, she battled Karolína Plíšková in the Round of 32, losing in three sets, but her spirits remained high. She said on X (formerly known as Twitter), in her typically brief manner: “not gonna lie, that was really fun though.”
“I just have a really fresh perspective,” Osaka tells us of her 2024 outlook. “I’m embracing every second and living in the moment.” In Australia, she’ll look to draw power from the crowd; she’s a fan favorite, deservedly so. “It sounds cliché, but my favorite thing at this tournament is definitely the fans,” she says. “I’ve always had such a warm welcome here, even before I had won it.”
Iga Świątek
Photo: Getty Images
Four-time Grand Slam winner (three French Opens, one US Open) and current women’s world number one Iga Świątek is gunning for her first Australian Open. (She’s gotten close: In 2022, she reached the semifinals.) This 22-year-old from Poland, a headliner of ON’s athlete roster, is known for being one of the sport’s more mindful players. Her introspection—and her focus on mental health—has paid dividends in her young career thus far.
“My routine probably will stay the same, because you don’t change something that simply works well,” Świątek tells us from Australia. That routine includes: “Resting enough, being in nature to recharge, and doing something small for myself every day, like reading books and managing social media time.” She adds: “The one thing I’m constantly trying to work with is to feel more free on and off the court in terms of expectations, pressure, and challenges.”
Grigor Dimitrov
Photo: Getty Images
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