Naomi Osaka: 'It was embarrassing' - Star on apology to opponent and watching Rafael Nadal highlights
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Published 10/05/2024 at 08:04 GMT
Naomi Osaka has revealed how watching Rafael Nadal highlights and an "embarrassing" practice session against next opponent Daria Kasatkina has helped her prepare for her Italian Open run. The former world No. 1 is into the third round of the WTA 1000 event after her first career win over a top-20 player on clay. She says she felt "very peaceful" ahead of her victory.
Osaka 'excited about clay court' after her best win of the season
It has been a week of firsts for Naomi Osaka at the Italian Open.
In the opening round she scored her first win against a top-50 opponent on clay since the 2019 French Open, and in the second round she earned her first career win over a top-20 player on clay.
In the third round, she will face world No. 11 Daria Kasatkina, which will be the first time she has faced a player ranked as high since August 2022.
It will be the first meeting between Osaka and Kasatkina since the 2018 Indian Wells final, which Osaka won in straight sets. They did also face off recently in practice in Madrid, and it didn’t go so well for former world No. 1 Osaka.
“I think I've said this before, but she smacked me in Madrid real bad. It was actually embarrassing,” said the four-time Grand Slam winner.
“I felt like I had to apologise to her after that practice. But I'm going into this match knowing that, you know, she has way more experience than me on clay."
Kasatkina might have more clay pedigree, but Osaka has shown in Rome that she can be a force on the surface.
She credits some of that to having a good balance with what she is doing on the court and off it.
“I don't know why, but today I just woke up very peaceful,” she said after her win over Kostyuk.
“I just feel like, I don't know, no matter what happens on the court, nothing will change for me off the court. Like, my daughter will still love me. I have so many people around me… Yeah, I think maybe that showed today.
“I hope that mentality stays and, continues, but I don't know. I'm just really excited to learn more about clay court and develop and go to Paris. And Shai (daughter) coming to Paris. So that's something that's keeping me very happy."
Osaka described herself as like a “baby giraffe” on clay after her second-round win, saying she is “trying to learn my steps”.
But she is pleased with the progression she is making on a surface where she is yet to reach a final.
“Overall, if I had to give myself a rating, I'd say that I can see a lot of progress from my last match to now,” she said.
She also revealed that to get in the right frame of mind for Rome she trained in Mallorca and watched some tape.
"Honestly, I did a really solid block of just focusing on what I want my clay court tennis to look like," Osaka said.
"I watched some videos. I watched Rafa [Nadal]. I watched [Carlos] Alcaraz. I watched [Andrey] Rublev actually which is very inspiring because he's smacking the ball.
"I kind of thought to myself, like, I don't want to have regrets when I leave the court."
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