Sporting Life

Osaka is a talent but true greatness can't be hurried

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Naomi Osaka knows it is here, her Australian summer of scrutiny, her January of judgment. Newspaper stories will record how many people in Japan are watching, her Instagram account will be scanned, her autograph begged for, her form debated, her answers weighed, even as one question stalks her.

Can she win another one? A second Slam? Till it's like a mad chorus in her ear. There is no pause for the young, only expectation.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 15, 2019, with the headline Osaka is a talent but true greatness can't be hurried. Subscribe