For Osaka, “ten slams is still really far away” – Match Points excerpt

Fresh from winning her fourth Grand Slam title with her second win at the Australian Open, Naomi Osaka has been tipped to go on to win as many as 10 Grand Slam titles.

In the latest edition of Tennis Majors’ show Match Points, journalists Ben Rothenberg and Simon Cambers discuss whether Osaka has the game and the mentality to go on to add to her tally in the coming years.

“There’s no reason why she can’t perform on clay, if she finds her feet (on the surface),” Cambers says. “And if she does that, you’re talking about the potential to get toward 10 grand slams and onwards. I think it’s self-perpetuating; if she suddenly goes on a tear, other players will be totally intimidated and she’ll start to be even more dominant.”

But Rothenberg feels it’s too early to start getting carried away by talking about 10 Grand Slam titles.

“Ten is still far away,” he says. “There are a lot of great tennis players in history who didn’t come close to 10. Venus Williams was a great player, she got to seven; Justine Henin was a great player, she got to seven; Andre Agassi got to eight and he was around for a long time. If she only wins four, it’s still a really great career. I just want people to calm down and not go to crazy with 10 or more, because it’s unfair to her.”