'There Is No Such Thing As Failure: Osaka Feeling Motivated Despite Rough Results Following Her Return

Abu Dhabi Open: Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who is on the comeback trail following the birth of her first child, has said that "there is no such thing as failure" as she feels motivated despite her string of defeats since his return from long hiatus.

The former world no 1 had been away from the sport for 15 months as she took time out with pregnancy for her daughter Shai, who was born in July last year. She made her comeback this January, failing to progress beyond the second round at any event.

She reached the second round of the Brisbane International before losing a close contest to Caroline Garcia in her opening match at the Australian Open.

Now in Doha for the Qatar Open, she delved into her altered approach to touring since her return to tennis.

"I've been enjoying myself. I think I'm taking time to do activities and I guess explore the cities that I'm travelling. It's been a little rough results wise, but I feel like I'm growing a lot as a player and hopefully, with more matches, I'll be able to do better," Osaka was quoted by Eurosport.

"I guess the way that I navigate tour life has changed a lot. So I try to make the most out of my time. And I think, I guess being a mum has helped me with that, because every minute does matter.

"It's funny, I find myself being on Shai's schedule even though I'm here, so I know exactly when she wakes up and everything, so I think that's cool," she added.

Having only secured a single victory this year, which occurred during her comeback at the Brisbane International, Osaka faced a setback by losing nine consecutive games. He most recent loss came at Abu Dhabi Open earlier this week, where she relinquished an early lead to qualifier Danielle Collins in the opening round.

Despite encountering challenges on the court recently, she maintained a positive outlook regarding her accomplishments thus far.

"I took a little dip after Abu Dhabi. But I had a talk with my team and I think the most important thing is just to try as hard as I can. Hopefully the results will come. I know there's going to be a lot of tough matches and probably a lot of scrappy ones, but I just have to learn how to have match rhythm again and know that there's no such thing as failure. You just have to keep getting back up," she said.

Osaka returns to Doha for the first time since 2018 and she faces Garcia for the second time this season in a marquee first-round encounter.