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MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAÃº

March 23, 2019

Naomi Osaka

Miami, Florida

HSIEH SU-WEI/N. Osaka

4-6, 7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. In your last match you talked about feeling too ahead of yourself, thinking about winning sooner than necessary. What do you think went wrong in the third set?
NAOMI OSAKA: No, I don't think -- maybe I did subconsciously. I was up 30-Love on my serve. But, no, I just think I got too emotional, which is something I did last match, too. I'm not really sure why this is happening, but it's kind of unusual for me I think a little bit.

But, yeah, I think in that moment I got ahead of myself, but all the other times it was pretty fine. Like, I knew it was going to be a tough match playing her.

Q. You talked about her unpredictability. Did you find that to be the case here?
NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, she was hitting down the line on balls I was sure she would go cross-court. Yeah, I definitely thought she was being unpredictable.

Q. What is it about her game that enables her to get players to slowly unravel? Is it that it's tough to keep your focus that long?
NAOMI OSAKA: Well, I can't really talk for everyone else. But for me, like, you go into the match knowing that. I wouldn't really say it was her. I would just say I was kind of immature today. I was thinking too much, like everything was on my racquet. Honestly, she has the ability to make winners, too, whenever she wants.

I think that was, like, one of the main problems.

Q. You mentioned having emotions. Do you think those come from match situations or from off court? Do you have any idea where those feelings are bubbling from?
NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, of course I want to win every match I play. I feel like I've dealt with the stress of people asking me do I have pressure because I have the No. 1 next to my name. I thought I was doing fine with that, but I guess I'm not. I think more about winning now compared to the matches before where I didn't necessarily think that was the case.

Off-court stuff, I'm pretty fine I feel like.

Q. Is she the toughest out in tennis, people know what they expect from her, should be able to hit through her? How nerve-wracking is that?
NAOMI OSAKA: Did you say 'toughest out'?

Q. Yes, like in baseball.
NAOMI OSAKA: I don't watch baseball. Like toughest player?

Q. The one who is the most difficult to overcome even though maybe you think you should be able to.
NAOMI OSAKA: You're saying like underestimate sort of?

Q. Yes.
NAOMI OSAKA: No, I don't think so. I don't think I ever underestimated her because all the times I played her was three sets. In Australia, honestly she should have won but I found a way to win it. I don't necessarily think I underestimate her.

I think maybe today I overestimated myself maybe in a way.

Q. You had an incredible streak of winning matches when you won the first set.
NAOMI OSAKA: I know, it's depressing. I know that record. I was thinking about it right after I lost.

Q. 63 straight. Was there anything different about today that made whatever was working the past 63 times not work today or is it bound to happen eventually?
NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, I think eventually I was going to lose after I won the first set. But I feel like today I got ahead of myself. I feel like there were some times when I was returning her serve in the second set, I felt myself relax a bit because I thought that I could be able to serve it out anyways.

So I think there's just moments like that that I have to, like, figure out how to not -- just not -- wait. How do I say? Just focus more, fight for every point, not think that I can just turn it on and off.

Q. What is your next tournament?
NAOMI OSAKA: Stuttgart.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese.)

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I thought my serve was working well for a while. I thought I was able to mix it up quite well. She's a bit unusual because it's tough to know which side she likes to return more on. Like, sometimes I would think it's the forehand side, but then she would just start leaning more on the ball. I think just figuring that out as the match went on, it was a little bit tough for me. I think she was returning well. It was hard for me because I count on my serve a lot.

Yeah, I mean, I think there's a difference between having confidence and sort of getting ahead of yourself. For me, I think I just thought, like, the last time I played her, she was up two breaks or something, 4-1, I don't remember if that was one or two breaks. I was just thinking, like, I was in a bigger hole last time, so I should be able to dig myself out of the hole this time. I completely forgot that she also learned things from that match, too. It wasn't just me that was playing there. Yeah, I just think it wasn't that I had a big head, but I think I wasn't really thinking about all of the things that was happening.

Yeah, I mean, I think I've been working on my serve a lot these last two tournaments. And definitely it's improved from Indian Wells to here. I'm not sure, I don't think the percentage was that great today. I was slowly starting to count on it again like I used to. So that's a big plus for me. Yeah, I've been working a lot on my second serve. I think I need to continue practicing it because she was stepping in a lot and being very aggressive. That's not something I want people to do, for sure. Yeah, honestly I haven't really talked to Jay that much. I was sort of depressed after this match, so... I guess I'll talk to him now.

Yeah, I mean, for me, I think it's interesting whenever you change coaches because there's always an adjustment time. This is the second tournament I've been with Jermaine. I think that I played pretty good today actually, if I get over the fact that I lost. I think I played a lot of good rallies. Of course, there were some shots that I tried to hit a winner on to early. I just do that sometimes. It's nothing to be negative about. Yeah, I think definitely we have a lot of ideas that we need to swap, so we really need to talk about that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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