AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2025

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/K. Muchova

1-6, 6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Naomi, Karolina is obviously a dangerous matchup. What are your top line thoughts on getting through that one?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, I think for me it was just really difficult from the first point. After the first set, I just told myself, like, I don't know, fight for every point. If she beats me 6-1, 6-1, then she's the greatest player ever.

Yeah, I just tried to tell myself to fight.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you prepare yourself for an eventuality like that? You come into a match. You obviously are hopeful that things go well. You find yourself 5-Love down. Is there anything you can do to prepare for that, or do you just react and regroup?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, I wasn't really prepared for it. But I think, yeah, just be aware and try not to get so negative on yourself. I think for me, the score in the first set was very dramatic, but there was, like, key points that I could have maybe won a game here or there. So I kept trying to tell myself that.

Yeah, just try not to live in the past.

Q. The draw is shaping up as being a pretty tough one, tough opponents, a bit of a revenge tour in a way. You said on court that revenge is fine, it's competition, not that serious. What do these matchups mean to you, and is it good to have the challenge round by round?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, you know me. I love it. I love playing the big opponents. I think that's where I play my best tennis.

Honestly for me, if I play better and better opponents as the rounds go on, I think it's more interesting because I feel like it's like the clash of two Titans almost.

I think the fans probably appreciate it, and I also appreciate it as a player.

Q. I wonder whether you like playing on the smaller courts, like the one you played on today, with a smaller crowd but more involved? Does that kind of a stage work for you, or do you like the bigger courts?

NAOMI OSAKA: It's funny you call it a small court, but it was pretty big (smiling).

No, honestly, I don't really mind. I think I'm the type of person that tries to focus on themselves a lot while they're playing, but I really did enjoy the crowd today. So if that's because it was a smaller court, then maybe I do enjoy smaller courts.

Q. Is there significance to you getting back to the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in a few years?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I think there is for me, though I try not to think about it too much right now. It definitely was something that is a goal of mine, especially after last year. I wasn't able to beat a seed in a Grand Slam. I'm obviously very thankful that that happened so early this year.

I just hope that I can continue playing here because it is one of my favorite tournaments.

Q. Once you started to really find your groove there, did you believe it was just going to stay with you, or are you still at the point where sometimes you think it might slip away? How do you maintain it?

NAOMI OSAKA: Actually, like, I did believe in myself the entire time. It's funny. When we were cooling down, I was telling Patrick that I was very thankful we went to Auckland because I did play really tough three-setters there as well.

I think if I had immediately come here to Melbourne and had to play Garcia and Muchova, and those were both three-set matches, just having the experience from the first tournament really helped me.

So I wasn't necessarily worried that my game would slip away, no.

Q. Next match against Belinda pits two tennis moms against each other, if you like. Does that add a little extra to it? Have you caught up with her?

NAOMI OSAKA: It probably adds extra stuff for you guys. Not necessarily for me.

I think, like, we are labeled 'moms,' of course. I think when you go on the tennis court, you just think of yourself as a tennis player, first of all. I don't know. The 'first of all' sounded weird, sorry.

But I haven't caught up with her 'cause I actually haven't seen her. So yeah.

Q. Looking at the statistics, a key part of change from the first to the second set was your first serve. Tell us what adjustments you have done in the pre-season and during the game to improve your first serve so much.

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, it was during the pre-season. It was also during, like, the Asian Swing, which I got injured. Yeah, during the pre-season I practiced a lot with Patrick just about placement more.

I think when I was younger, I used to just try to bomb it. Obviously the percentage wasn't the greatest. Neither was the placement. So now just trying to be a little bit smarter with both of those things.

Q. Your thoughts on the upcoming match against Belinda Bencic?

NAOMI OSAKA: I'm so sorry. The match I just played took so much out of me that I can't even think about the next match I'm going to play.

But if I had to think about it, I don't remember the year we played our last match together. Someone would have to tell me. But I know she's an incredibly tough player. She fights a lot.

I don't want to say I've grown up with her, but we've definitely seen each other on tour. I think it's really cool that she also had a baby, and she came back, as well.

She seems to be doing really good. So yeah, I think it's going to be fun.

Q. Is there anything unexpected you've learned from working with Patrick?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah (laughter).

Yeah, it's funny, I've told people this. In the very beginning I was a little wary of him just because his persona is very... I didn't know if I would get along with him. Yeah, I said that out loud, whatever (smiling).

But he's actually really funny, very hilarious. I didn't really expect that from him because I thought he was so straightlaced. He's very funny.

Q. About your fitness, you spoke about it last summer, especially that you really improved that. Can you say if you are at a better place physically from 12 months ago?

NAOMI OSAKA: Oh, I hope so. Whew... I mean, 12 months is a long time. Imagine if I said I was slower now.

I definitely do think I am fitter now. I don't feel like I get tired in three sets. I've played quite a couple three-set matches now.

Q. I guess I meant are you at your best physically? Do you feel like you're at your best physically?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I think since I've come back, definitely, for sure. It's really hard for me to think about when I was a teenager. I'm sure I was flying around the court, but my game was completely different then.

I do feel like there's a lot of positive emotions because I think there's so much more that I can learn. I think it's kind of the long game now. I'm training every day. I'm trying to get stronger and faster. I'm very curious what that will look like in the end.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese.)

NAOMI OSAKA: I think for me, what I changed, I think I just had to believe in myself a lot more. To me, after the first set, I told myself, like, Okay, you're kind of on your way out, but you're going to try to put your foot in the door.

I told myself to just swing, because that's my game. I can't be hesitant and allow her to push me around the court. I also tried to think that way with my serve, as well. I think going onto the line, I just thought like, You can't control this point, but you can try to view it as an opportunity, so...

Yeah, going a little bit more for my shots 'cause in the first set I think I was a little too cautious.

Yeah, I mean, I think matches like these are really difficult because we both know that we're really good players. I knew she was going to come out strong. Like, she can't afford not to. I also tried to come out strong, but clearly she came out better than me in the first set.

Yeah, I did think about the US Open match. After I lost that match, I often thought about what I could do better. I tried to apply that here today, and it worked out.

But yeah, I feel like that's the great thing about tennis: you can constantly adjust things and try to figure out different things to beat your opponent.

I've kind of made peace with it. To get me off this court, you're going to have to wheel me out in an ambulance. Yeah, I mean, obviously I won my match today. I'm doing well. I'm serving well. Yeah, I'm kind of excited about it.