NAOMI Osaka will appear in the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time in 4 years, Friday (12/4), with the hope of winning a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The former world number one tennis player was called up to the Japanese national team to play the Kazakhstan national team in Tokyo.
The match against Kazakhstan will be the four-time Grand Slam champion’s first appearance at the Billie Jean King Cup since February 2020.
Even though she will be defending in the Bilie Jean King Cup, Osaka is threatened with not being able to appear in the Olympics because she has not played enough for the Japanese national team in official events.
“If Osaka wants to represent Japan at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she must appeal,” said a spokesman for the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Even so, the ITF provides quotas in singles events for Grand Slam champions.
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Osaka was absent from the world tennis tournament from September 2022 to January this year because she got married and then gave birth to her first child.
When she appeared at the Australian Open, earlier this year, Osaka was ranked 831 in the world.
However, success in reaching the quarter-finals in Qatar and advancing to the third round in Indian Wells and Miami Tebruka boosted Osaka’s ranking so that she entered the top 200 in the world and ranked 4th in Japan.
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Only 64 players can participate in tennis singles at the Olympics, with each country able to send a maximum of 4 players.
Osaka has experience appearing at the Olympics after appearing at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and reaching the third round.
The Billie Jean King Cup match between Japan and Kazakhstan will be held on Friday (12/4) and Saturday (13/4) at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. (AFP/Z-1)
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