(New York) Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner but absent from the circuit since September 2022, announced on the sidelines of the US Open on Wednesday that she hoped to return to the 2024 Australian Open.

Asked by the American sports channel ESPN about her presence in Melbourne next January, the 25-year-old Japanese replied “yes”, explaining that her 16-month break had “reignited the fire” in her.

During her break, Osaka gave birth last July to a baby girl, Shai.

She has not played in competition since the Tokyo tournament in 2022: after having benefited from the abandonment in the first round of her opponent Beatriz Haddad, she withdrew before the second round.

Osaka, who has denounced the psychological difficulties she faces on the circuit, took part in a forum on the mental health of athletes on Wednesday in Flushing Meadows, alongside American swimming legend Michael Phelps.

She said she intended to do a full 2024 tennis season.

“It will definitely be a lot more tournaments than I used to play,” she said.

“I don’t know how the start of the season will go. I don’t know what my level of play will be and I think we have to come back quietly. So I’m going to set myself the goal of finishing the year very well “2024, she developed.

World No. 1 in 2019, Osaka fell to 603rd in the WTA. She won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, as well as the US Open in 2018 and 2020.