Naomi Osaka can find her form and make a successful defence of her title when the US Open gets under way next week, says Jelena Dokic.
The Japanese star returns to Flushing Meadows seeking a third title in four visits, but having played only five matches in the past three months.
Former world No4 Dokic said she was thrilled to see Osaka competing once again on tour and felt the Japanese star had the ability to quickly find top gear – but warned this was no certainty.
"She could potentially play herself in, there's no doubt about that. She has the ability to do that. She has that type of game. The US Open is a fast surface which suits her,” Dokic said.
“I would love to see her win at least two or three matches and then see how her form is going to shift from actually getting some confidence and matches under her belt.
“The question is: will she get the opportunity to win two, three, four matches? This is not the US Open last year, or even the Australian Open where it was still kind of fresh, she was off the tour six months and so was everyone else.
“Now, everyone else is playing so much more. So if she comes up against someone who's had a lot of matches and who is feeling good, it could turn into a bit of problem.”
This was the case in Osaka’s last two events, which also came on hard courts.
At the Tokyo Olympics, she was ousted in straight sets in the third round by Czech lefty Marketa Vondrousova – who went on to reach the final – as both the occasion and her competitive rust proved too much.
In Cincinnati, it was another left-hander, Jil Teichmann, who beat Osaka in three sets at the same stage of the tournament and who also went on to reach the final.
"When you don't play a lot of tournaments, it’s not that she's not fit – she does everything she can in practice – but matches are just not the same,” Dokic observed.
“It’s impossible to replicate the nerves, when the crowd is there, when playing under adrenaline in 35-degree heat, and when you're under pressure, if it's deep in the third set, after you've played for two-and-a-half hours, it's very different than when you're practising.
“Against Teichmann, could that have potentially been a factor? She's such a great front-runner that once she wins the first set, she doesn't really lose very often.
“Don't forget she played three sets with Coco Gauff (in the previous round), backing that up and having to play three sets (again), that's maybe why she could have felt it.”
Dokic empathised with Osaka’s mental health struggles, and said it was difficult to watch the 23-year-old break down in tears and temporarily suspend her pre-tournament press conference in Cincinnati.
"I'm a big fan of Naomi as a tennis player, but also everything that she's trying to do and everything that she stands for,” Dokic said.
"I think she's phenomenal for tennis. When she's not playing, we feel it, I think we really miss her.
"I love the way that she plays – she brings so much excitement, flair, and power, she's very athletic. So it's great to see her back either way.
“I hope she can find a way to deal with everything and just be able to really get through the press conferences, be able to compete, and just find her way at balancing everything.
“I feel like she's different also to a lot of the other girls. She plays such fearless tennis but then sometimes when she does the on-court interviews she's just very shy – I've done on-court interviews with her. It's like you get this completely different person, and that's what I think is very exciting with Naomi.
"I definitely enjoy watching her play her matches, especially at Grand Slams; I feel like she brings her best when it really matters the most.”
Osaka already has four major singles titles to her name, and she will attempt to join an illustrious group of female three-time US Open champions in the Open Era - Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Billie-Jean King and Margaret Court.