{"id":359988,"date":"2024-01-15T02:32:26","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T03:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359988"},"modified":"2024-01-15T04:02:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T04:02:03","slug":"the-scariest-world-no-831-in-grand-slam-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=359988","title":{"rendered":"The scariest world No.831 in grand slam history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two tennis<\/a> greats believe Naomi Osaka vs \ufeffCaroline Garcia has the potential to be one of the more memorable first round matches in recent Australian Open history.<\/p>\n

Osaka's grand slam comeback has captured \ufeffthe imagination of the sports world<\/a> after the Japanese superstar took time away from the court to prioritise her mental health and then become a mother.<\/p>\n

Her long layoff means she is unseeded at Melbourne Park and a scary proposition for her opponents.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Excitement<\/p>\n

Garcia, the 16th seed and a former world No.4, copped the unlucky first round draw and will stare down the four time grand slam champion at Rod Laver Arena on Monday night.<\/p>\n

"That's got to be pretty nerve racking for Garcia," Wally Masur said on Stan Sport's Grand Slam Daily<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

"There's a lot to lose here because Osaka is such a dangerous player, so much firepower and she seems pretty comfortable in her return.<\/p>\n

LIVE UPDATES:<\/strong> Australian Open day two<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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"She's playing well. Caroline Garcia has an enormous game but gee there are some fine margins. It's either red hot or she can get ice cold."<\/p>\n

Bookmakers have installed Osaka as a slight favourite after she won a match and lost one in her competitive return at the Brisbane International this month.<\/p>\n

Masur is tipping \ufeffFrenchwoman Garcia but without any confidence.<\/p>\n

\"Adelaide<\/p>\n

"If she just falls slightly shy of her best, I think Osaka will be there to pounce. And Osaka can play pretty freely given the disparity in their rankings at this point (Osaka is 831)."<\/p>\n

Masur added that Osaka and Ash Barty being away from the tour had undoubtedly "hurt" the women's game.<\/p>\n

"Osaka walked away from the game, Ash walks away from the game… all these great players, you want them on tour because they all have points of difference. For whatever reason she (Osaka) left the tour, she's come back as a mum and I think that'll give her a new perspective too. It changes your world, doesn't it?<\/p>\n

\"Naomi<\/p>\n

"All of a sudden they're (children) the priority and tennis takes a backseat and maybe that's a healthy thing for her."<\/p>\n

Another former Aussie star, Jelena Dokic, had been similarly enthused by Osaka's "incredible" level in her first proper hit in Brisbane.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"Giving birth just six months ago, so it's incredible for her to even be on the tour," Dokic said on Wide World of Sports' The Morning Serve<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dokic<\/p>\n

"But we know how determined she is. She's a multiple grand slam champion, including here in Australia as well. So she will want to get back to top form and want to be able to compete at the big tournaments and compete for those big grand slams and titles."<\/p>\n

Dokic said \ufeffit would be unrealistic to ask Osaka to make a deep run in her first grand slam back but much funnier things had happened.<\/p>\n

"You never count out a grand slam champion and an incredible champion like Naomi," she warned.<\/p>\n

"But if it doesn't happen here, of course, I definitely see her winning a grand slam again. In her comeback, this might be a little bit too early in Australia though…<\/p>\n

"I really like the attitude that she has. She's always been very positive but I like the way that she's coming into it a lot more relaxed.<\/p>\n

"She's having fun on the court. She's having fun off the court – being a mother now has given her a completely different perspective on life."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two tennis greats believe Naomi Osaka vs \ufeffCaroline Garcia has the potential to be one of the more memorable first round matches in recent Australian […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":359990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359988"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359988"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359994,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359988\/revisions\/359994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/359990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}