Will she or won’t she? What? Come back. But she’s already back. No, but you know, at the top: Will she come back at the top? The only thing people seem to want to witness from Naomi Osaka since last year is a return to her previous level, competing for Grand Slam titles. So the less she finds a way to do it, the more dramatic the “will she, won’t she” storyline becomes. Yet, what if clay was Her Moment? Imagine!

Surprisingly, this clay season has come to Naomi Osaka’s rescue as she clinched eight wins in a row, from Saint-Malo’s final to Rome’s fourth round (a loss she called “atrocious”), on a surface she doesn’t like, doesn’t have good memories of, and never spent enough time on. Her best record on clay yet. She was sweating through three-set wins against players she surely felt she should still trounce in straight sets like she did back in the day. Who would have predicted that after a first-round loss in Madrid? Yes, she could be a dark horse at Roland-Garros, no doubt, and also, yes, she could suffer an early exit. The uncertainty cloud around her is less thick, but it has still not fully cleared.

Osaka’s case reminds us how tennis is fascinated by former champions returning to the sport after going through it. People love a fairy tale of winning against all odds, the “rising from the ashes” storyline. We were all glued to Michael Jordan’s journey in The Last Dance, and we’ve been spoiled throughout the years in tennis with it happening repeatedly, from Andre Agassi to Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Thomas Muster, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, or Maria Sharapova post–shoulder surgery. Some forgot it’s not a given. Ask Andy Murray!

Still, nothing like a champion turning mortal before becoming a superhero again to renew fans’ interest. It’s even stronger for Naomi Osaka as you can feel the not-so-subtle “Please, Naomi, come back” vibe. The fans, the sponsors, the media, and the tour all want to see more of one of the most bankable players in tennis. It’s not just for the feels: The tennis business needs her. And so Osaka’s only option seems to be this incredible comeback following pregnancy and injuries to the top of the mountain again.

And she’s trying so very hard. Osaka tried so much that she hurt her back during the Asian swing last year. And this year so much so that she got an abdominal injury that not only cost her a title in Auckland but also a deep run at the Australian Open. She was hitting the ball like the former world No. 1 she is and moving the best I had seen her move in ages. But she broke, and it killed all her momentum. It also kills what Osaka needs the most but struggles to keep: her confidence. She told me in Madrid she loved how Patrick Mouratoglou was helping her build her confidence again, as she tends to be “too insecure.” That’s what puzzles people about Naomi Osaka: how she can be an extremely ambitious woman building an empire on and off the court, yet someone who doubts so much.

Naomi Osaka had planned the start of 2025 to be her moment, yet it ended in an emotional blow. That’s why, to me, her clay season so far has been admirable. Think about it. Naomi Osaka is now asked to rise from her ashes through the tennis stretch she dislikes the most: clay season to grass season. Awful timing, right? Maybe not. Last year, she played a blockbuster at Roland-Garros against Iga Swiatek in the second round, so couldn’t she build on that again a year later?

When I saw her in Madrid, she said that instead of going straight on clay after Miami, she had a whole block of preparation for clay at the Mouratoglou Academy in the South of France. I paused. Naomi Osaka prepared for clay season?! Color me impressed. But she still lost in the first round in Spain against Lucia Bronzetti, whom she barely beat last year in the first round in Paris. Then what? Rome and Roland-Garros? Did she go through all that for two events?

Osaka was livid, ranting on Threads, “Trust the process, but the process isn’t trusting me wtf. I wouldn’t wish what goes on in my brain to my worst enemy.” And so she did what champions do and also triggered her fairy-tale-waiting-for-happy-ending storyline again: Cinderella forgot about the castle, the prince, and the cute glass shoes and got down a few notches. Naomi Osaka needed matches and some wins, so she put her ego aside and discovered the beautiful city of Saint-Malo in France and its WTA 125 world. Andre Agassi going through the Challengers to build his return type of vibe. The amount of “omg wow, Osaka back to WTA 125 level, this is so brave” takes I’ve read… Everything for a good narrative and drama!

Nobody can say Naomi Osaka isn’t trying, or doubt she wants to get back to the top. Why? She was down 4–1 in the second round against Diane Parry in the third set of a WTA 125 in a city she probably didn’t even know existed before landing in it. She has all the millions she can dream of in the bank, a successful production company, a daughter she doesn’t see as much as she’d love to because of tennis, and some serious emotional troubles tied to tennis. She could have been on a private jet to the beach real quick to forget about it all. But no, she fought her way back into that match and ended up winning the tournament.

Naomi Osaka won her first title on clay, her first title in four years, in 2025 in Saint-Malo, a WTA 125. Plot twist! That’s what her tennis and confidence needed. And so the narrative machine got back on track again: “Will she now?” The thing is that the word “nearly” has become a big part of Naomi Osaka’s return story. She nearly got Swiatek at Roland-Garros last year. She nearly won the title in Auckland. She was near a deep run at the Australian Open. Naomi Osaka is still so close, and yet somehow so far. Close to her best level? Absolutely. To dominating the sport again? Not sure about that. But the main thing is that she wants to try. That’s what this clay season is showing us: Naomi Osaka is still up for the fight.