FOUR-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has announced she is pregnant.
The Japanese former world number one, 25, withdrew from the Australian Open earlier this week, having not played since September.
“2023 will be a year that’ll be full for lessons for me,” said Osaka, adding that she hopes to return in 2024.
“One thing I am looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone ‘that’s my mom’.
Osaka won the last of her four Grand Slams at the Australian Open in 2021.
However, she has spoken of the problems she has faced since that memorable title win.
In May 2021, after pulling out of the French Open, she revealed she had “suffered long bouts of depression” ever since winning her first major title, the US Open, in 2018.
In September 2021 she took a five-month break from the sport.
She lost in the third round of the Australian Open on her return, then the first round of the French Open, missed Wimbledon because of injury and lost in the opening round of the US Open.
Osaka played last at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September and has dropped to 42 in the world rankings.
“The past few years have been interesting to say the least, but I find that it is the most challenging times in life that may be the most fun,” added Osaka, announcing her pregnancy on social media.
