Top ranking no longer a No.1 priority

AUSTRALIAN Open title favourite Naomi Osaka is eyeing Ash Barty’s No.1 crown, with memories of her lack of recognition when previously boasting that status still fresh in her mind.

Japan’s triple grand slam champion spent two stints at the top of the women’s game in 2019 and is now at No.3, after winning the US Open for a second time in September.

Osaka – who faces Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in round one – said she would like to be back at No.1, but was no longer obsessed with the number like she once was.

“I remember when I first got to No.1. I think nobody really acknowledged me,” Osaka (pictured) said.

“I remember I was in Indian Wells and I was talking to someone. They were like, ‘What side of the draw are you on?’ – and the No.1 is always on the top side.

“It just made me think, like, ‘Wow, people don’t really see me as No.1’. I feel like since that point, two years ago, I just kept trying to prove myself.

“I felt like that wasn’t a good mindset to have (but) right now I’m at a really good place.”

Osaka is one of several women with a genuine chance of challenging for Barty’s top ranking, although the Australian and world No.2 Simona Halep have a significant buffer over the field.

Fellow stars Serena Williams, Karolina Pliskova, Victoria Azarenka and Garbine Muguruza have all spent time at No.1.

The wildcard is returning Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, who’s been sidelined for the past 15 months since suffering a meniscus tear in her knee.

Andreescu withdrew from the Grampians Trophy only as a precaution, following a fortnight in hard quarantine after her coach, Sylvain Bruneau, tested positive for COVID-19.

She peaked at No.4 before her injury and was viewed as someone who would contend for further grand slams.