"I watched Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev" - Naomi Osaka on how she prepared to play on clay at Italian Open 2024
Naomi Osaka recently opened up about how she prepared to play on clay at the 2024 Italian Open. She revealed that she watched a lot of videos of players such as Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, and Andrey Rublev playing on clay to prepare for her campaign in Rome.
Osaka used her protected ranking to secure a spot in this year's WTA 1000 Italian tournament. She kicked off her campaign with a victory 7-6(2), 6-1 over Clara Burel in the first round. This was the Japanese's first top-50 win on clay since her victory over Victoria Azarenka at the 2019 French Open.
The former World No.1 recently defeated 19th seed Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour to secure her place in the third round. This win not only marked her first career win against a top 20 player on clay but also her first consecutive victory on clay since 2019.
During the post-match press conference, Naomi Osaka was asked about how she prepared for the Italian Open following her early exit at the 2024 Madrid Open. She revealed that she had traveled to Mallorca to prepare for Rome after her loss to Liudmila Samsonova in the second round at the Spanish capital, and states that she traveled to Mallorca to gear up for the Italian Open.
The former World No.1 revealed that she had watched several videos of Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, and Andrey Rublev to fine-tune her game for the Italian tournament.
"So I went to Mallorca. Honestly, I did a really solid block of just focusing on what I want my clay court tennis to look like. I watched some videos. I watched Rafa. I watched Alcaraz. I watched Rublev actually which is very inspiring because he's smacking the ball," Osaka said.
Naomi Osaka expressed that she wants to avoid any regrets in Rome, like the disappointment she felt after her Madrid defeat.
"I kind of thought to myself, like, I don't want to have regrets when I leave the court. In Madrid I did kind of have regrets of not swinging fully. Focusing on that a lot, yeah," she added.
Naomi Osaka will face Daria Kasatkina in the third round at Italian Open 2024
Naomi Osaka will go up against Daria Kasatkina in the third round of the 2024 Italian Open. She secured her spot there with victories over Clara Burel and Marta Kostyuk in the first and second rounds respectively.
Meanwhile, 10th seed Kasatkina kicked off her campaign in Rome in the second round following a first-round bye. She defeated Tatjana Maria 7-5, 6-1 in her opening match to advance to the third round where she will meet Osaka.
Naomi Osaka and Daria Kasatkina have only met once on the WTA Tour, with the former winning the matchup. They met in the final of the 2018 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells which Osaka won 6-3, 6-2 to capture her first WTA Tour title. Their head-to-head record currently stands at 1-0 in favor of the former World No.1.