Last month, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka announced that she's expecting her first child later this year, and that she hopes to return to tennis with a new vigor in 2024.
Her commitment to that goal seemed all the more evident in a social media post that she shared on Monday.
Osaka announces pregnancy, plans to return in 2024
"Outside but barely," the former World No.1 joked underneath a carousel post of recent training videos. The collection featured two video clips of her hitting on a tennis court, and a third of her doing a low-impact fitness routine on the beach. In the second clip, Osaka could be seen training under the watchful eye of International Tennis Hall of Famer Andre Agassi.
Since announcing the impending addition to her family, Osaka has nonetheless stayed busy through a variety of off-court endeavors.
She was in the stands as a fan at Super Bowl LVII, and was one of many who raved about Rihanna's performance at halftime, and recently announced a new collaboration collection with American clothing retailer Victoria's Secret.
The former World No.1 last played at the Toray Pan Pacific Open last September. In announcing her pregnancy, the Japanese superstar wrote that she's using her time away from the game to learn and grow in various ways -- not the least of which is a renewed appreciation for her tennis career.
"These few months away from the sport has really given me a new love and appreciation for the game I've dedicated my life to," she wrote.
"I know that I have so much to look forward to in the future; one thing I'm looking forward to is for my kid to watch some of my matches and tell someone, 'That's my mom.'"
In a recent interview with People magazine, Osaka said she knows the gender of her unborn child but is keeping her longtime partner, American rapper Cordae, in the dark about the news.
"I've been preparing, but he doesn't know the gender yet, only I know," she said. "So it's not like I can build out the room or anything. So I don't know, [I'm] just kind of winging it. That's kind of the key motto in my life a little."
She also said she's looking forward to the "new adventure" awaiting in the coming months.
"I think what I'm looking forward to most is the challenges and just learning," she said. "I think there's going to be a lot of things that I don't know, but I have a lot of really amazing people close to me that I can ask questions about. Just a new adventure."
