A candidly speaking Naomi Osaka heads into the clay swing with a fresh mindset, a new technical approach and the temptation to implement a certain skill she learned from watching Rafael Nadal.
In recent years Osaka has established herself as one of the biggest names in women’s tennis by claiming a quartet of Grand Slam titles and spending a total of 25 weeks as world No.1. However, the clay has always been an achilles heel for the Japanese player who is currently ranked 36th in the world. She is yet to play a Tour final on the surface or go beyond the third round at the French Open. To date, her best run at a WTA clay-court event was reaching the semi-finals of the 2019 Stuttgart Open.
Nevertheless, the 24-year-old is a player who isn’t deterred when faced with adversity. She is currently coached by Wim Fissette who oversaw Simona Halep’s run to the 2014 French Open final and has worked with a string of other high-profile names, including Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber.
“I changed a couple of things,” Osaka revealed during media day at the Madrid Open on Wednesday. “I think you guys will be able to tell when I play. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. I would say I did change a couple of things to suit myself more for clay.”
Osaka is keeping coy about what might be in store when she returns to action at the Caja Magica, venue of the Madrid Open. Although she hints she may deploy a tactic which is commonly used by Nadal. As to what that is, she is keeping silent. It is understandable as to why she chose to draw inspiration from the Spaniard who has won more ATP titles on clay (62) than any other player in history.
“I think I stole one of the things that he did and I’ve been practicing it recently,” she said. “It’ll either go really good or really bad. There’s like no in between. But I think as I’ve been doing it, it’s been going pretty well.
“Honestly I’ve been wanting to watch the really good clay-court players practice because I feel like I’m the type of person that learns really fast if I see it up close, and honestly it’s a bit of a waste to have all these really good professional tennis players and not watch them.”
Madrid isn’t like other clay events on the Tour due to its high altitude which makes the ball travel faster than usual. Therefore the theory is that the conditions favour the heavier and more powerful hitters such as Osaka. Although she has only managed to reach the last eight in one out of three main draw appearances.
“I know that every kid growing up playing tennis in the world has pretended to be Nadal at least once.” Osaka continued.
Osaka’s admiration for Spanish tennis doesn’t solely focus on Nadal. Another player to have caught her attention is rising star Carlos Alcaraz who has enjoyed a sensational 2022 so far. The 18-year-old became one of the youngest Masters 1000 champions in history at the Miami Open and has also won two ATP 500 events. This week he officially broke into the world’s top 10 to become the youngest man to do so since Nadal back in 2005.
“I feel like he’s genuinely made everyone excited about the ATP and I haven’t seen that in a very long time,” Osaka said of the teenager.
“I’m not even really thinking about his age, like every time someone brings up his age, I’m like, ‘Oh wow, I forget, that’s so cool.’
“I think just his game style, just how pumped he is, how I feel like I’m watching him learn with every tournament.
“I don’t know what his ranking was last year here, but I’ve watched almost every tournament that he’s played, the US Open when he played (Stefanos) Tsitsipas and just to see the growth I think is really exciting for everyone.”
The former world No.1 knows what it is like to be in the media limelight at a young age. Before her 20th birthday she had won the Indian Wells title and two Grand Slam tournaments. It has been a roller-coaster journey for Osaka who has had to deal with problems concerning her mental health in recent years.
Fortunately the tennis star seems to be back on track and hungry to improve further on her ranking. In Madrid she will begin her campaign against the dangerous Russian qualifier Anastasia Potapova who won the Istanbul Open last week.
“I always say I want to have a good time, which is true, even off the court I want to have a good time. I’m trying to take it one tournament at a time. Of course winning matches and leading up into the French (Open), I want to get to the semis of either here (in Madrid) or Rome, hopefully win. But I’m going to set a little goal first.” Osaka concludes.
