“Swiatek and Sabalenka inspire me” – Naomi Osaka

One might not expect a four-time Grand Slam champion to need much inspiration – but Naomi Osaka says she’s taking a lot from watching the way that the current two leaders of the game go about their work.

Ahead of Roland-Garros, she was asked for her thoughts on how far she is from the level currently displayed regularly by Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek – her possible second-round opponent in Paris.

“For me, I’m so focused on what I’m doing,” she said in a pre-tournament press conference, “and I know, like, they’re playing incredible tennis and they’re doing it almost always. And I was never the type of player to do that, anyways.

“So I’m looking at them as an inspiration, and I don’t know – this part of my journey, I’m not really comparing myself right now. Maybe later when I get more confident and towards the level that I want, maybe on hard court I can start doing that, but as of right now, I really feel like I’m really just kind of learning again.”

Osaka: I feel nervous during the first round of slams

The 26-year-old – who faces Lucia Bronzetti in the first round – said she had not looked ahead in the draw, so it is possible that she does not actually know that Swiatek could lie in wait for her very soon.

“I always feel a lot more nervous during the first round of slams, just because I want to do well so badly, and the first round is the first round, so you kind of almost feel like the tournament didn’t even start and you’re out if you lose,” she added.

“That’s for me what I feel. But I think, I don’t know, growing up, the slams were the tournaments that I
watched on TV the most. I just want to be here for as long as I can.”

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