MELBOURNE SUMMER SET

January 6, 2022

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/M. Zanevska

6-1, 6-1

Q. You must be happy with your performance.

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I thought that I learned a lot from my match before today, so I'm really glad that I was able to apply it, and I think my biggest thing was my first serve percentage. Yeah, really happy with how that went today.

Q. Did you feel a lot more relaxed today in your match compared to the opening one? Do you feel like you got a lot of the nerves and butterflies out of kind of restarting competition in your first match?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I think definitely I did get a lot of nerves out the first match, but I was nervous again today. But just because I've never played here before, so it was a bit unfamiliar.

Yeah, it's definitely nice to have that feeling of learning throughout the tournament. I think that -- my opponent, I felt like she was a sweetheart. It was just nice to be able to share a moment -- I think we both laughed when the person behind us coughed directly when she was about to serve. It was fun, yeah.

Q. In terms of the good vibes out there, you also spent a long time on court afterwards signing autographs, going all around the seating bowl. What makes you want to be able to spend that much time, people wanting to have a moment with you and you taking the time to grant that? Were there moments when you were a kid or a fan that you were on the other side of the equation that informed how you handle these situations now?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, definitely. I feel like I have a hard time walking away from -- if I hear a kid ask me to sign something. But definitely I remember when I was a kid and I wanted to get autographs from my favorite players, I actually didn't get any because I was in the back of the crowd, and I wasn't able to get to the front.

I just try to sign as many things as I can and kind of go down the line, but sometimes I don't have enough time, and I actually think I accidentally held up the match that was coming on the court after me, so I feel a little bit bad about that. But it was really nice to be able to see people again and to use like a pen, a special pen instead of grabbing everyone else's pen because that wouldn't be that smart, but it was fun.

Q. Do you remember who the people were when you were trying to get autographs from when you were a kid and weren't able to be successful?

NAOMI OSAKA: I know that I was like watching Monfils and Tsonga in the Miami Open because I lived in Florida, and everyone would rush to the gate as soon as Tsonga finished, so I couldn't get an autograph. But it was just really cool watching him play.

Q. I was really interested hearing your comments around Petkovic and watching her as a kid, and you made the same comments a couple of nights ago around Cornet. Why does that stuff still stick with you at this age now that you have become a professional player rather than just being a fan as a kid?

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly it's because I respect them a lot. For me to be able to watch them and have a long career like this, I don't think it's anything to be taken lightly. They've been here for a long time for a reason, and for me, it just -- I think there's a lot of respect both ways that go into it.

Of course there's like Serena and all the big dogs, but then to have the people that were competing against Serena and to be able to put on the tough matches time and time and year in, year out, I think for me -- no, no, there's just something cool about playing someone that you've watched on TV multiple times.

Q. How does that impact you when you do go into these matchups in comparison to playing a player your age that you didn't watch on TV growing up?

NAOMI OSAKA: For me I actually try to blank it out most of the time, but I think it's just like -- I think it's just like an extra layer of respect. Like there's a different feeling that I go into the match with.

Q. About Andrea, she was very complimentary of you and talked about the Stanford match back in the day. I think there's still a forehand that you hit against her that lives rent-free in her mind a little bit and the rest of us who saw it. What do you remember about that match? Obviously you had just beaten Stosur before, but that was quite the week for you, and I wonder what your memories are of that?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I actually forgot all about that, but I do remember just thinking that it was really tough to go into that first tournament and see that you're supposed to maintain a level of tennis throughout the entire tournament and in fact get better throughout the tournament, and for me I just had that like one great match, and I felt like when I played Petkovic after I played Stosur, I was just kind of riding on a high, and I wasn't really in the mindset to go back to back.

I felt like she definitely taught me a lesson that day. Yeah, I definitely got my butt kicked.

Q. I was interested to see you put on your Insta story that you watched the Mardy Fish documentary last night or this week, and I know you did a panel with him before the US Open. I'm curious what made you decide to watch this now and what you thought of the whole story which was pretty interesting.

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I actually watched it last night. Yeah, it was definitely last night. Honestly, I've met him a couple of times, but I just have a hard time watching documentaries, especially of people that I've met, because I don't want it to alter the way that I talk to them or interact with them.

But I watched it because my agent told me that it was really good, and actually a lot of like non-tennis people that I've encountered have told me about it. I actually started watching it in LA before my flight to Melbourne, and it was really captivating for me.

I don't know, there's a lot of things that he described and the way that he told his story I thought was really, really cool, and I felt like a lot of young tennis players should definitely watch it because I felt like I related to a lot of things that he said.

I also think that maybe if I watched it when I was younger, it would have altered like a little bit of the stress and the pressure that I would put on myself because I feel like he's like a really amazing tennis player and he's saying all of this stuff, so it would be nice to have learnt from him when I was younger.

Q. What were some of the things that he said that you found yourself relating to?

NAOMI OSAKA: I remember there was like this clip where he was talking about how he was in the US Open. It was like towards the end of the documentary. He was saying he doesn't remember how the rest of the match played out because he felt like there was like a sudden boom, and there was just so many thoughts.

Sometimes I feel like that, so I thought it was really interesting that he was like describing it in a way that I couldn't really put out.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese:)

I wouldn't really say I'm forcing myself to laugh. I think it's just coming naturally. I also feel like I'm not sure if I would laugh that much if I'm playing a -- we don't play five sets, like a three-set grueling match.

I don't know, it feels really nice to play my first night match out in Rod Laver. I think I was just happy about that.

Yeah, I definitely felt like I could have gotten a little bit mad on that moment, but I also felt like it would be a discredit to her because she was on serve. I can't really expect myself to go out there and beat her 40-Love on her serve. I just told myself from this moment on, from the deuce that I had, from that moment on, just to try to do anything that I can to make it as tough on her as possible, and I was kind of glad with how I was able to sharpen my focus.

I remember when I first played Stanford, I was just really star struck by all the players there. Honestly at that time I did so many things wrong. I wouldn't even really warm up or anything. I would just go to the court, and I would get really intimidated by everyone that was there.

I met Serena for the first -- well, I've always known who she is, but I think maybe that was the first time she's known who I am kind of, at that tournament, too. Like the tournament organized a little meet-and-greet. It was really cool.

But I think that was the first tournament I got to encounter the superstars of tennis, and for me it was really fun because I watched them all on TV, and to be able to feel the weight on their ball and stuff like that in person was really a great learning experience.

I think for me, I try not to think about it too hard because when I think about it, I start putting all these doubts in my head. I know that tennis is fun and I know that I enjoy playing it, but then I try to put little goals in between like for each day because I feel like if I just go out there and I'm like, tennis is fun and I really enjoy it, then I feel like, okay, I'm going to play a match and I want to win it, that type thing, and I always feel like when I do that, I rely -- or I put the value of my happiness on winning or losing.

I think with this tournament I'm trying to put little goals each day, so I actually bought incense and candles, and I light the incense every morning and I try to meditate and stuff. I feel like that's really calming.

I know this has nothing to do with tennis, but I think it's good to set little goals every day. I think for me, that's what I find is helping me find tennis fun.