Naomi Osaka return is the ‘best news for women’s tennis’, says Patrick Mouratoglou

Patrick Mouratoglou believes the women’s tour will receive a significant boost with the return of Naomi Osaka.

The four-time Grand Slam champion has been absent from the tour since September 2022 and after giving birth to her daughter Shai in July will make her comeback at the Brisbane International, which gets underway on December 31.

‘’I think it's the best news for women's tennis,’’ Mouratoglou told Eurosport.

‘’Now you have Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, not there are no others because of course there are many others, but I think those two are super exciting.

‘’They are superstars, so they're great for the WTA – the WTA needs superstars.

"We had so many great years with Serena, Venus and Maria Sharapova, who are three really huge stars.

“And I think it draws a lot of attention to women's tennis when you have players like that.

‘’So, I'm very excited that Naomi comes back. I think she's great. I think she can do well. I feel that she's very motivated to come back.”

Osaka recently revealed her intention to win more Grand Slam titles upon her return, something which Mouratoglou believes she will have no trouble doing.

‘’Sometimes when you are away from tennis, you realise how much you miss tennis and when you come back, you are even hungrier,” said Mouratoglou.

“So that's probably what happened to her being away for a very long time.

“Her game is huge. She has such a huge game, huge shots. I think having the mindset, the will and the shots, she can really do some damage.

“She will be ready for the Australian Open. She will just lack matches.

‘’So, we'll know quite fast if she's able to be competitive immediately or if she will need a bit more time to become competitive. But I feel she will be competitive straight away.’’