Chris Evert praises Naomi Osaka in heartfelt social media post

Chris Evert knows a thing or five about being a great tennis player. She reached No. 1 on the WTA tour and won 18 Grand Slams. She has also become one of the best commentators on tennis and knows how to sell the game extremely well. But as greatness recognizes greatness, Evert's social media post directed at Naomi Osaka is quite fitting.

Osaka is currently trying her best to resemble a Phoenix. She stopped playing in late 2022, took 2023 off due to injuries and having a child, and has been working her way back into form since the beginning of 2024. She had mixed results in her first two tournaments but this week had a decent run at the Qatar Open.

Osaka made the quarterfinals, with the help of a walkover by her opponent in the round of 16 before Osaka lost to Karolina Pliskova in two tough sets 7-6(8) 7-6(5). While Osaka did not win the tournament, she looked to be in her best form in at least two years. She has also reiterated that she is not measuring success by winning tournaments but more by how well she is playing.

Chris Evert heaps some praise on Naomi Osaka

Still, winning at a high level, which Naomi Osaka has done in winning four Grand Slams in her career and reaching No. 1, and then not being able to easily get back to that level can be frustrating. Chris Evert knows this and felt driven to take to X (the tennis star formerly known as Twitter) to heap some praise on the young star. Evert also gave Osaka some advice.

Chris Evert tweeted, "It was just a matter of time. Greatness doesn’t disappear" and followed that by tagging Osaka, adding a hashtag with the word "patience," and two emojis signifying strength.

However Osaka feels she is playing, anyone can gain strength from having others reach out to them positively. Evert also did not have to tweet her thoughts. But again, greatness recognizes greatness.

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