SINGAPORE - Following Naomi Osaka's fourth Grand Slam win at the Australian Open last Saturday (Feb 20), the time has come for more Asian players to try to reach her level, said Yoshihito Nishioka, the second-ranked male player in Japan.

The 25-year-old told The Straits Times via a video conference call on Sunday (Feb 21): "She's very supportive of Japanese tennis and Asian tennis so we need to be proud of her and need to improve more so that we can be more like her. She showed that we can do it, so we just have to believe in that and try to do it."