Naomi Osaka: "Iga Swiatek's great for the sport; watching Aryna Sabalenka doing so well is super fun"
Naomi Osaka is pleased to see the rise of women's tennis with Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka doing extremely well. She hopes to climb the ranks and play them in the future.
After bagging two Australian Open titles and two US Open titles, Naomi Osaka took a mental health hiatus in 2021. Since making a comeback, she has not been able to win a Major title.
The former World No. 1 was on a hiatus in 2023 due to pregnancy. She returned to tennis in Brisbane in 2024 as a wildcard entry.
Osaka began her clay court season in Rouen but lost in the first round against Martina Trevisan. At the subsequent Madrid Open, she went past Greet Minnen in the first round but encountered a loss against Liudmila Samsonova in the second round.
At the 2024 Italian Open, Osaka began her campaign against Clara Burel. She defeated the Frenchwoman in straight sets 7-6 (2), 6-1.
After her first-round win, Osaka was asked what she thinks about Swiatek and her reign as the World No. 1.
"I think she's incredible. The way she's able to maintain being No.1 and constantly do well at all the tournaments is something that I honestly can't think of or can't fathom back when I was No. 1 for like five seconds (smiling)," Osaka said during the Italian Open press conference.
"Yeah, I mean, I think she's great for the sport. I also think watching Sabalenka doing so well is super, super fun. I hope that I'm able to play them both one day," she added.
Naomi Osaka hopes to apply her Italian Open 2024 first-round learnings in the second-round
Naomi Osaka was 5-3 up in the first set against Clara Burel at the Italian Open but she let that lead slip and the set went into a tiebreaker. The Japanese player admitted that her forehand let her down in the games where she slipped up.
Osaka, however, dominated the second set and convincingly won the match. She hopes to learn from her mistakes.
"I obviously played a lot better in the second set. I'm hoping that when I play my match tomorrow, I'm able to learn from the mistakes that I did today and apply them better," Osaka said during the post-match press conference.
Naomi Osaka will get straight back into action on Friday in a second-round clash against Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.