復帰の大坂なおみ、目標はさらなるＧＳ優勝　パリ五輪にも意欲

【東京ＡＦＰ＝時事】女子元世界ランキング１位の大坂なおみが、復帰後の目標に２０２４年パリ五輪出場とさらなる四大大会（グランドスラム）優勝を掲げた。（写真は女子テニスの大坂なおみ）
　グランドスラム通算４勝の大坂は昨年９月を最後に試合から遠ざかっているが、今月末に開幕する全豪オープン前哨戦のブリスベン国際で待望の復帰を果たすことになっている。
　７月の第１子出産を経て、復帰への準備を進めている大坂はＮＨＫの取材で「緊張感と同時に幸福感とわくわく感がある」とコメントした。
　また、「テニス人生の第１章では、ありのままの本能的なプレーで何とかしていた感じだった。今はより競技を理解した選手になりたい」と述べ、復帰後について「もっとグランドスラムで勝ちたい。全仏オープンやウィンブルドン選手権により多くの時間を費やして、パリ五輪に出場したい」と話した。
　１月の全豪オープンがグランドスラム復帰戦となる中、母親になったことで以前とは異なる気持ちになっているという大坂。「（娘の）シャイを育てる責任感が心地良いし、彼女に世界を見せてあげたい、彼女のためにプレーしたいという気持ち」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/12/08-16:55）

A nervous Naomi Osaka has targeted a place at next year's Paris Olympics and more Grand Slam titles after she makes her eagerly anticipated return to tennis.
The 26-year-old former world number one is set to return to competition at the Brisbane International starting at the end of the month, having not played on tour since September 2022.
The four-time Grand Slam champion gave birth to daughter Shai in July and she has also struggled with her mental health and the pressures of tennis.
She told Japanese broadcaster NHK that she feels nervous and also happy and excited as she prepares to return.
And Osaka, who lit the cauldron to open the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, hopes her comeback takes her all the way to next summer's Paris Games.
In the first chapter of my tennis I kind of got away with just being myself and playing with my instincts, she said.
I think I want to be someone that understands the game a lot more.
I definitely want to win more Grand Slams and I guess put in more time in the French Open and Wimbledon, and play the Paris Olympics, she added.
Playing for Japan at the Tokyo Games, where spectators were mostly banned because of Covid, Osaka lost in straight sets in the third round to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
She has won four major titles, triumphing in the 2019 and 2021 Australian Opens, and winning the US Open in 2018 and 2020.
Osaka will make her return to Grand Slam tennis at the Australian Open in January and says she will have a different mindset now that she is a mother.
I've never been a person that's really good at playing for myself, if that makes sense, she said.
So I kind of like the feeling of having the responsibility of having to take care of Shai and wanting to show her around the world.
I kind of feel more like I'm playing for her.