AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 14, 2025

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/C. Garcia

6-3, 3-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Naomi, your first win here at Australian Open since 2022. Talk about how it felt out there tonight and thoughts on the match generally.

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I feel really old when you put it like that (smiling).

But yeah, it felt really good. Obviously I played Caroline last year and it didn't go my way, so... Yeah, overall just really glad to have won today.

THE MODERATOR: Who would like the first question?

Q. Were there flashes of déjà vu for you tonight? What kind of knowledge did you draw on from your match last year that you used tonight?

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly, there was déjà vu, but not from last year. I remember playing her in 2021, the year that I won. I kind of thought about that a little bit. I hope that I played her in 2021 and I didn't make that up.

Q. Yes.

NAOMI OSAKA: Okay.

I did think about that and I found it quite ironic that I play her every couple of Australian Opens.

But yeah, I mean, she's a really great player. I was pretty impressed with some of the shots that she made. I knew that I just had to keep I guess hanging in there.

Q. At what point did you feel like it went your way in the third?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, I don't feel like it ever didn't go my way. Oh, that sounds terrible.

In the way that, like, for me, I've always felt like if I concentrated hard enough, then I'd obviously hold my own serve. From there, I just have to have as much will as possible. That takes a lot of energy from me.

But if you were to say like an exact moment it went my way, probably realistically when I broke her in the third.

Q. Do you think concentration is the biggest challenge to you in matches these days?

NAOMI OSAKA: I wouldn't say concentration. But, like, there's a level of focus that I can get to, but it takes a lot of energy from me. Like I try to explain it to someone. It's kind of like you're a fighter, you're like a boxer against another boxer, and for me I'm not a confrontational person, but I'm a boxer as my profession, and it takes a lot of energy for me to know that I'm going to go fight against somebody.

For me, that's what my focus is. Obviously once it's there, like, I say c'mon a lot and I'm yelling. It's almost like I'm a different person. Up until it gets to that point, I overthink a little bit.

Q. Do you know the directions to that point all the time or do you have to sort of find your way there each time?

NAOMI OSAKA: Like I write in my book, Have intense focus, have commitment every shot. I think I do kind of follow the flow of the match.

Q. Last year obviously you had some tough three-set losses in situations when you were up and couldn't close. How big was tonight? Not that the match was slipping away, but you had to work through some frustrations early on in the third set. Does this feel like a turning of the page a little bit on last year?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, honestly if you were to say 'turning the page', I would probably say that was in Auckland because I played really tough matches there in really tough conditions. I felt like even though the tennis wasn't necessarily the cleanest, I think it was like the mental side that got me through into the final. I was really happy about that. I think it continued on to this match because I don't feel like I played the cleanest tonight either.

Mentally I just really wanted to win a lot. I'm kind of excited for my next match because, I don't know, it's another person that I haven't played. Well, I've played her in the US Open, but I'm just looking forward to it.

Q. To get a chance to play someone who you lost to at a Grand Slam before, is it like getting a little stone out of your shoe or something that's been bugging you in order to correct the record in some way?

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly, for me, no, because I don't really think about, like, who won more or stuff like that. For me, every tournament or every Grand Slam is a new opportunity. Obviously I'd really like to win that one, or this one, so I think of it more as one out of seven matches.

Q. You said you're excited to face Karolina Muchova next. Another great player. Tough draw, by the way. What makes you excited about facing her?

NAOMI OSAKA: I think just, like, having the opportunity to see what I can do. Obviously I fell a little short in the US Open, but my outfit was spectacular (smiling).

But yeah, I'm hoping this time my tennis can shine a little bit better. Also I love getting difficult draws. Like, I find that the most fun. It's kind of like once you get a difficult draw, you can prove that you're the best of the best. So for me it's the most fun moment.

Q. I see you've got the L.A. cap on, the Lakers gear. How have you kept focused? Has it been difficult to know it's happening so far away, something special like a home is under threat?

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly I don't think I've been doing the greatest keeping focus, but obviously I won so I think it's an acceptable job.

It is really difficult for me because, I don't know, I think it's tougher now because I find now my home is more of a home because I have memories with my daughter. There's so many things, keepsakes and stuff like that. Obviously you can't hoard them all when you're asking them to go to your house and just grab stuff.

So it is really tough in that sense. I'm not there, so I don't know how bad it is or how bad it's going to get. But I think the biggest thing that I am grateful for is that everyone in my family is safe.

Q. How much do you let yourself have thoughts go back to L.A., or how much do you try to lock into what you're trying to do here, too?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, I'm a great multi-tasker. I do both. I'll check the wildfire map any chance that I get just to see what's happening. Also I had friends in L.A., but they're safe. One of them flew to New York, so...

I don't know. It's really difficult. I also feel like in a way it's tough because I don't think I'll go back to L.A. immediately after. Like, I don't feel like it's safe enough to go back there. It's kind of a little bit in a limbo, but also motivating me to hopefully stay here as long as I can.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese.)

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, it is interesting because I remember the last couple times I played Caroline, her serve was overwhelming me a lot. Today it felt a little more breezy.

I think in that way Patrick helped me a lot because he gave me quite a couple tips, and I just had to apply them. It suddenly became a little predictable.

Yeah, honestly I would owe that to him.

Yeah, it was like specific tips against her serve.

Yeah, definitely I think obviously it was a little bit like a wave, the match today. In the third set I definitely wanted to be really focused. Honestly, I was inspired by, though it was a little long, the Djokovic match before me. I was really impressed by, I'm going to butcher his name, but the kid that Djokovic played. I thought it was really cool how focused he was. Even though he cramped, he was still intent on playing the match.

On Djokovic's side, it was so cool how he's so determined to win all the time. I saw him screaming, C'mon. Yeah, I try to focus a lot like that, as well.

I think obviously being a mom has changed me quite a lot. I hope that I focus a lot more on the court with the time that I have. I think, I don't know, I'm a little bit more calm, though maybe today didn't show it as much. I hope that with the matches and with the continuation of playing tournaments, maybe more traits will pop up.

Thank you for asking the important questions (smiling). Do I just respond to that? Yeah, hmmm... For me, I don't know if anyone was able to take a very zoomed-in picture of my shoes yet. But on the side it says like, The sun shines where you are. Obviously it's sunflower themed. I have like sunflower earrings. I had things in my hair, but I had to take them out. So the theme is sunflower. Every slam this year will have a flower theme shoe. I think that's really cute.

I don't know. The Australian Open's the Happy Slam, so I thought it was really fitting for it to have a sunny theme.

Thank you for that question. Good night.