MELBOURNE SUMMER SET

January 8, 2022

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/A. Petkovic

6-1, 7-5

Q. You must be very happy with not only the way you started the match but how you were able to lift your game when you were challenged in that second set.

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I definitely think I played really well in the first set, and I was really happy about that. I feel like it was just a matter of feeling out. I think she felt me out a little bit in the second set, and I don't know, I also haven't played a lot of matches, so it was just sort of recovering from that and just trying to keep playing my game.

Q. In terms of working yourself through that second set in particular, falling behind the break and steeling yourself to take it back, what do you think was the key to that? What were you telling yourself to not let that set get away and have to play a third set?

NAOMI OSAKA: I think what I was focusing on when I fell behind in the second set was just trying to take it point by point. Or after a while in the second set, I think I was thinking too broad. I was taking it game by game instead of trying to play every point as well as I can.

I know there was a couple of backhands that I missed, and I was just lingering on that for too long. Just trying to take it point by point and knowing that she's on serve and there's a possibility that I won't be able to break her, but just trying to take all the chances that I can.

Q. On your net game, you nailed a few very, very tricky volleys today, particularly in the second set. I'm curious how much of that is work that you've put in with Wim over the last couple years? How much of that aspect of your game and that front third portion of the court is something that you've really focused on because it was quite impressive?

NAOMI OSAKA: Oh, thanks. For me, I've always wanted to be more confident at the net, and I always felt like there are several balls that I could move forward on, but I just wasn't that comfortable being on that section of the court.

Of course me and Wim worked on it a lot, and we've been kind of trying to work on my touch, which he says isn't that bad, but I just never really try to go up to the net at all.

For me, I feel like that's really important. I was watching Dimitrov play before that, and him and his opponent seemed to be quite good ending things at the front of the net. I just wanted to kind of be like that.

Maybe I got inspiration from them.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese:)

Yeah, it's funny, I don't know, whenever I played night matches, I have a tendency to wake up really early for no reason and then I have to attempt to take a nap throughout the day. Honestly, when I came to site, I came around like 5:00-something. I was just watching matches the entire time, and honestly Dimitrov's match was really entertaining for me, so it kept me up.

After that I looked at the time and I saw it was almost 10:00, and that's honestly around the time that I normally go to sleep, so I was really surprised that I kind of -- I don't know, but also the court lights are quite bright, so I think that also kept me up really well.

I think for me it always comes down to matches. I knew that the first match I played against Cornet, I really didn't love my service percentage at all, and I think it's just gradually getting better every match that I play. I also knew that Petkovic is a good returner, so I think that also forced me to focus on my serve a lot more and try to place it well and get the percentage higher so that I didn't have to play that many second serves.

For me it was a really amazing five years. They kind of took me on when I was really young, and I'm super grateful for them. I feel like it's been quite a journey. For me, I was able to build memories with them, and I think that that's quite rare. It was really cool to do shoots with Kay and sort of interact with everyone within that company. I'm really grateful to Nissin, and I think there are no bad terms at all, and I feel like that's something that is really respectable because, I don't know, it's just kind of like a family and there's so much love.

Yeah, definitely I feel sore. Of course you're supposed to feel sore, especially I think in the first tournament of the year. I haven't played matches in a minute, so I wasn't expecting to feel fresh, especially now, and I think that I'm the type of person that gets a little bit more accustomed to the soreness and to the little niggles and the little pains as I play more matches. I probably don't notice it that much while I'm playing, but maybe when I wake up at night I'll be a little bit stiff.