QATAR TOTAL ENERGIES OPEN

February 12, 2024

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/C. Garcia

7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on your win today. What are you most proud of in this performance?

NAOMI OSAKA: I think I'm just proud that I didn't give up on any single point and that I was able to, I guess, not have multiple match points (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What was behind the smile at the end when you looked at your box? Was it the relief? Was it that you feel maybe you made a big step forward on this match?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I feel like I definitely made a big step forward, but also my team has kind of seen the ups and downs, and so far this year it feels a little bit more like downs.

I'm just really kind of glad we stuck it through and not seeing this one victory as, like, the highlight of the year. I definitely want to keep it going. It was more like a "We're-in-it-together" type of thing.

Q. Tough to compare, but if you had to, between a few weeks ago in Australia, where do you think you made the difference today and the sign that you're getting in the right direction?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, honestly I feel like I'm a much better player now. I think in Australia my returns weren't as good, and I don't feel like I was as focused as I am now.

I think that definitely made a difference, especially against such a good server like she is. I feel like I didn't really have the luxury to, I guess, not focus on every point, so...

Q. You mentioned that you like to inspire young kids. What message would you give to kids dreaming of following in your footsteps?

NAOMI OSAKA: Probably not follow in my footsteps (smiling). But, yeah, I mean, I think about this a lot, and I think the lesson that I learned from last week to this week is every day is a new day, and you don't have to let, like, disappointments that happened in the past define you. So you really should -- or not "should," but it is better to just keep moving forward.

Q. Not too long ago you said that you have grown as a player, as an athlete. What would 26-year-old Naomi say to her younger self?

NAOMI OSAKA: I think what I would say to my younger self is probably a lot (smiling), but I feel like one of my strongest characteristics is that I tend to do a lot of things from my heart. Even though that's gotten me in trouble a lot, I think just telling myself, like, that's not something to be ashamed of, and just to keep fighting as hard as you can, whether that's on the court or off the court.

Yeah, I hope that's good enough (smiling).

Q. It seems we take it for granted that after giving birth you're going to come back physically and be the same player as you were before. Can you talk about the journey that it's been to get your body back into a top athlete?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, it's been a really tough journey. I feel like for me I always feel like or felt like I was chasing myself in the past, and honestly it wasn't really healthy to do.

Like after giving birth, I feel like I trained, like, really quickly, and that was my choice, of course, and I was really happy to do that, but I also felt like I'm a very big perfectionist, and it's kind of tough when you don't see results as quickly. I give this example a lot: I kind of felt like I was driving a car that wasn't mine, so my body didn't feel like the body that I was used to.

So it was honestly a really strange feeling just to not even be able to get out of bed, so I couldn't do a situp or anything.

So, yeah, that kind of continued for months. I don't know. It was in that journey I felt like I learned how to love myself as I am now, and it was a really special feeling, because I got to wake up every day and see my daughter and know that I was strong enough for her to come into this world. So that was cool.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese.)

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, for sure the returns are much better, I think. I'm not too sure about the footwork. I think I was able to reach for more balls, and I feel a lot stronger getting those balls back.

I think footwork -- I don't know. It's weird to play on a different court, because I'm so used to Melbourne, so if I was playing in Melbourne, I would be able to give you a definitive answer, but here, I think I'm still working it out.

But, yeah, return, much better, and I guess reaching is much better. And I also just feel like my focus. I experienced a really huge disappointment in Abu Dhabi, and I just didn't want to go out that way here.

Honestly, Azarenka was playing before me, so I felt really inspired by her. I think I just kind of forgot how amazing of a champion she is, just because, like, when I look at her and I remember, like, as -- I don't want to say "kid," but I was kind of a kid watching her play Serena and stuff, and just seeing her journey and seeing how she fights for every point I thought was really inspiring. It was really I guess good of me to watch that before I went and played. I feel like, for me, when I'm really dialed in, it's, like, one of my biggest or my strongest suits.

Oh, yeah, no, I did change my return -- I don't want to say "style," but I guess form. I don't know how to describe it. Like, before I was taking one step, one step, and then jumping in, but now I'm kind of just jumping in with both feet, because apparently Djokovic does that, so why not copy the best returner in the world (smiling)?

Yeah, definitely. I had a conversation with Wim, and it was just kind of frustrating knowing that my serve is, like, one of the best serves, dare I say, in the world, but I just really wanted to work on the things that I know should be a lot better and the return was one of them.

So we were talking about it a lot in the offseason, and I guess, leaving Melbourne, definitely needed to improve it.