Watch: Naomi Osaka practices in Toronto ahead of Canadian Open opener

Following a disappointing exit in the second round of the 2022 Silicon Valley Classic, Naomi Osaka will now begin her campaign at the Canadian Open, for which she was recently spotted training for in Toronto.

Competing in her first tournament since the French Open in May, the former World No. 1 narrowly edged past Qinwen Zheng in the first round but was overpowered by Coco Gauff in straight sets at the WTA500 event in San Jose. Despite moments of brilliance in the second set, this year's French Open runner-up proved too hot to handle for the Japanese.

A statement performance under the sunset 🌅

🇺🇸 @CocoGauff defeats former World No.1 Naomi Osaka, 6-4, 6-4 in San Jose!

#MubadalaSVC https://t.co/2s1RUARwzh

With the loss weighing on her mind, Osaka was seen training on the hardcourts in Toronto just one day before beginning her campaign. In a video posted by the National Bank Open's official social media handle, the four-time Grand Slam champion was seen practicing her footwork while hitting fantastic groundstrokes.

.@naomiosaka practicing this a.m. at Centre Court ahead of this year's #NBO22🤩 https://t.co/I1QnLF6kd3

She will open her Canadian Open campaign against Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, who finished as the runner-up at the recently concluded Citi Open. When the two last faced off, it was in the Round of 32 of the 2017 US Open, with Kanepi winning in three sets.

Kaia Kanepi 🇪🇪 easily defeats Saville 🇦🇺 6-3 6-1 to reach the Washington final

Kaia faces Naomi Osaka 🇯🇵 in Toronto

"I’ve been letting people call me mentally weak for so long"- Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic

Naomi Osaka, who has always been outspoken about her battles with mental health, recently opened up about being called mentally weak after her match against Coco Gauff.

Stating that she has grown mentally stronger over time and is in a better mental state in her life, the four-time Grand Slam champion declared that didn't feel under pressure anymore and that she was happy with the progress she has made so far.

"I feel like the pressure doesn’t beat me, " Naomi Osaka said in her post-match press conference. "I am the pressure. I’m really happy with that. When I was playing the match just now I realized that I’ve been letting people call me mentally weak for so long that I forgot who I was."

"I realized that that’s something that I do. I lost the match today but I feel really confident in who I am. I feel like the pressure doesn’t beat, " she added.

Osaka also took the time to laud her opponent Gauff and referred to her as a "star" who was "important to the game," adding that she had so much "love" for the teenager.

"She’s very much a star, " Naomi Osaka said. "It’s very clear. She’s very important to the game. After (Roland-Garros) last year when I withdrew, she was the first player to message me and I’ve never forgotten that. I have so much love for her and I think she behaves well beyond her age, " she added.