TOKYO: Naomi Osaka will play in the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time in four years when Japan takes on Kazakhstan in a qualifier in Tokyo next month, the team said on Friday. The four-time Grand Slam winner and former world number one is returning to tennis this season after giving birth and last played in the tournament in 2020.
The 26-year-old has played in five tournaments since her return and lost to Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the last 32 at the Indian Wells Masters earlier this week. She is currently ranked 287th in the world after taking a 15-month break from touring for maternity leave.
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It will be Osaka’s first appearance in Tokyo since she withdrew from the Pan Pacific Open in September 2022 ahead of her second-round match. Japan will face Kazakhstan on April 12 and 13 at Tokyo’s Ariake Coliseum, with Osaka reaching the third round of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The winners will advance to November’s finals in Spain. “She said she wants to play, so I’m really happy,” Japanese captain Aye Sugiyama was quoted as saying by local media. Osaka has previously said she wants to play at this summer’s Olympics in Paris.
