"I'm happy that they're happy" - Naomi Osaka on new 'Clayomi' nickname given to her by fans after Italian Open heroics
Naomi Osaka advanced to the fourth round of the Italian Open 2024 by defeating Daria Kasatkina on May 11. Her impressive form on clay has earned her the nickname 'Clayomi' from fans.
Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam winner and a former World No. 1 player. However, her credentials on clay and grass courts are not as good as they are on hard courts.
After taking a pregnancy hiatus in 2023, Osaka made a comeback to tennis this season with multiple hard-court tournaments at the beginning of the year. Her clay court season began in Rouen where she faced a first-round defeat.
Next, in Madrid, she managed to get past the first round but could not defeat a top-20 opponent in the second round.
Until she began her Italian Open campaign, she had never beaten a top-20 opponent on clay. However, she has brought about a change of fortune for herself.
In the second round in Italy, the Japanese player defeated 19th seed Marta Kostyuk. In the third round, she got the better of 10th-seed Kasatkina 6-3, 6-3.
Her impressive performances on clay have earned her the nickname 'Clayomi' but she still feels she needs better credentials on clay to own that nickname.
During her post-match press conference, she was asked how she feels about people starting to call her 'Clayomi'.
"Please don't (laughter). Please. I think I need more clay credentials for that. But I'm happy that they're happy, so...," said Osaka.
Naomi Osaka applied her learnings from a practice session with Daria Kasatkina to defeat her at the Italian Open
Before her match against Daria Kasatkina, Naomi Osaka revealed she practiced with the Russian player in Madrid. During that practice session, she was 'smacked' by Kasatkina.
In her post-match press conference, the Japanese claimed Kasatkina defeated her 6-0 or 6-1 in that practice session. However, she applied her learnings to earn a win in Rome.
"Yeah, I just remember thinking, 'cause we were warming up before the actual practice set, and I was hanging in there with her. For some reason when the match started, I didn't really know how to play on clay. I didn't know how to structure the point," Osaka said.
"So obviously that's what I tried to learn a lot in Mallorca. I'm very happy that apparently I figured it out,"
Osaka is now set to face one of her toughest tests on clay as she goes up against seventh-seed Qinwen Zheng on Monday, May 13, in the fourth round of the Italian Open.