Camila Osorio will be the rival in one of the most anticipated duels of the Australian Open: the return of Naomi Osaka to the grand slams after her surprise third-round loss against then-rookie Leylah Fernández, which swept her in three sets 5-7, 7-6, 6-4.
After that, Osaka disappeared from professional activity to take care of her mental health until this Australian Open.
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While the Japanese was absent, Osorio experienced an ideal auction for her season, achieving in Tenerife (Spain), in November, her first victory against a rival from the top 10 in world tennis, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, then sixth in the WTA list (today 16) by 7-5, 3-6 and 2-6, and approaching the top 50 tennis player.
Her performance in 2021 allowed her to enter the main draw of this Australian Open, becoming the fourth Colombian tennis player to play this instance after Catalina Castaño (2004 and 2007), Fabiola Zuluaga (2000, 2003, 2004 -she was a semifinalist- and 2005) and Mariana Duque (2009, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018).
Covid-19 and its damage
Despite finishing his 2021 on a high note, Osorio ended his season early, missing several hard court tournaments to recover and improve his physical condition with a view to the season that starts.
“This preseason was very good, it helped me a lot to focus on aspects that I wanted to work on, that I am still improving. We are going well and on the right track”, Osorio told EL TIEMPO from Melbourne, where the first grand slam of the year is being played.
“It was hard for me to breathe, but I’m fine now and training”
Regarding his physical condition, priority in his training, he said that he is going “little by little, there is still a lot of room for improvement, but I think I do feel better, there is still a lot to be done”.
It should be remembered that the start of the season for Camila was delayed several weeks, because although she had originally planned to travel at the end of last December, she contracted covid-19 and was able to travel to Australia until January 9.
He missed two WTA tournaments: Melbourne and Adelaide. Two opportunities that could serve to determine what is the form and the level in which the best Colombian tennis racket really is.
“I feel very good, I had to stop for a couple of days for the physical part, it was hard for me to breathe, but I’m fine now and training. The time change has not hit me hard, I have been able to rest and I have had a good adaptation, ”he said about his arrival in Australia and the recovery from covid.
A date with history
The victory against Elina Svitolina has not only been the most important victory in Camila’s career, it has also equaled the best feat in women’s tennis, as Fabiola Zuluaga won the French tennis player in the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters in 2000 Nathalie Tauziat, then ranked sixth in the WTA, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Yet for all that Naomi Osaka stands for, it may be the most significant win of her career. The Japanese, who this week was reported as the highest paid female athlete of 2021 with income of 57.3 million dollars, also has a number one position in the world on her way, reached in 2019 at just 21 years old, after winning the same tournament for which she faces Osorio today, the Australian Open (she also won it in 2021, she is the current champion).
Likewise, the weight of the commitment that has won the US Open twice (2018 and 2020), four grand slam titles, in total, which demonstrates Osaka’s expertise on hard court, increases.
“We have to take advantage of this opportunity. It’s my first Australian Open. I really want to get in and do my best”, said Osorio about the category of being in the main draw and the match that is coming up.
Osorio is known to have finished the year in the final of a WTA with victories over two top 50 (Camila Giorgi, 36, and Svitolina, 6), but the form in which Osaka arrives is uncertain. Since her disastrous fall against Fernandez in September, four and a half months have passed until this match and she has only played four matches in recent weeks on the WTA in Melbourne.
On October 24, Maria Camila was runner-up in the WTA 250 in Tenerife.
Bestial Sport Media/ William Mora
There she beat three of the 100 best in the world: Alizé Cornet (62), in the first round 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3; Maryna Zanevska (81), by double 6-1, and Amanda Petkovic (72) by 6-1 and 7-5. From there, when she was already in the semifinal, Osaka withdrew against the 30th in the world, the Russian Veronika Kudermetova due to the intense load that those four games represented. “Sad to retire due to injury from my match, my body took a shock from playing back-to-back intense matches after the break I took,” he wrote on his Twitter.
Fourth rival ‘top’ 20.
In two years of career, Osaka will be the fourth rival of the 20 best in the world for Camila Osorio, because in 2021 she lost against the then 4 in the world, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (lost 6-0 and 6-3 in the third round of Wimbledon), and against the Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-0 and 6-1 in the second round of the US Open. He only registered the victory in the first round of the WTA in Tenerife against Svitolina. “The most important thing is to give my best. I want to win, but I have to play ball by ball and each game is going to be a final”, said Osorio.
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