Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka is set to play in Japan's Billie Jean King Cup qualifying tie against Kazakhstan next month, the team's captain Ai Sugiyama said Friday.
The four-time Grand Slam champion will be playing in the team event, formerly named the Fed Cup, for the first time since February 2020. The winning team from the April 12-13 tie at Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum will advance to November's finals in Spain.
"I'm really happy that she expressed her desire to play," Sugiyama said at a press conference.
It will also be Osaka's first match in Japan since the Pan Pacific Open in September 2022 and since giving birth to her first child last July.
