“I’m beginning to feel like I can’t hit the shots that I know I can,” Naomi Osaka reflects on 1st round defeat in the 2022 US Open
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Naomi Osaka
The 2-time US Open champ and a 4-time major winner, Naomi Osaka was shown the exit of the 2022 US Open in the very first round itself. Up against the 19th seeded Danielle Collins, the local girl won the match 7-6(5), 6-3 against World No. 44 who was looking to improve her ranking by making a good run at one of her favourite tournaments.
Osaka is certain to drop in the rankings as she had made it to the 3rd round at least last year and with not much difference in the ranking points of the other players near to her rank, the Japanse could well be outside the Top-50 for the remainder of the season.
“I’m not really a person that has a full set plan,”: Naomi Osaka
Osaka was honest in the assessment of her defeat and did not shy away from addressing what all issues she has been facing lately including a couple of mental challenges where she has lost the confidence in her shots that one could say the Japanese landed with her eyes closed.
“I mean, my head is still like everywhere. I just mean, like, I’m the type of person that thinks a lot, to the point where I overthink. Sometimes when I play matches, I have to tell myself to, like, stop thinking, just go more on instinct, yeah. I feel like I just have to chill a little bit because there’s a lot of like random chaos in my head right now. I’m not really sure [about plans to play a full schedule through the hardcourts]. I’m more of like a winging-it type of person. I’m not really a person that has a full set plan. I think I’ll just take it day by day.
“I would love to play Japan. Olympics, there was no crowd, which was really sad. I would love to have the opportunity to play in front of people in Japan. I have a pretty good track record there, so it would be nice. Honestly, like, the main goal was just to have fun. I don’t know. I think that was kind of accomplished. Of course, it’s more fun to win more rounds. We’re just, I don’t know, kind of winging it. I think for me, when I think about having fun, it’s like I don’t feel restrained. Lately, I felt really restrained. I’m not really sure why.
“I would just say being able to be confident in my shots is what makes it fun for me. I’m beginning to feel like I can’t hit the shots that I know I can, especially on my forehand. I don’t know if it’s a matter of practising more or something like that. I just don’t have the same feeling. So maybe I need to watch like [Carlos] Alcaraz or someone that’s really good at hitting forehands,” said Osaka in her post-match press conference.
“I didn’t serve until, like, two days ago,”: Naomi Osaka on fitness issues
Osaka also talked about battling fitness issues that started for her in the US Open Leg series of events itself including her mid-match retirement from the 2022 Canadian Open against Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi.
“I mean, I kind of thought that I played a bit too defensively. I didn’t really trust my forehand that much, and I think that maybe you could see that a little bit. I also felt like I was on my back foot a lot. So, yeah, overall I wouldn’t say that I played very well, but I tried the hardest with what I could do. I feel like I lost in the first round of France, too, so. This year hasn’t really been a great year. I mean, it was pretty hard for me. I think it was just special to play on Ashe. I think a lot of players would die for that opportunity.
“For the tournament to let me still play on that even though I’m unseeded, I’m very thankful. I mean, for me, honestly I just wanted to play without, like, my back being in pain because it’s kind of been bad for, like, the entire hard court season since Toronto. I didn’t serve until, like, two days ago, so I was really happy with how my serve went. I don’t know. I just feel like these are one of the things that you don’t plan for it, it just happened. Like, I didn’t know that I was going to play her until a few days ago because I opened Twitter by accident.
“But, yeah, I mean, I think this is what makes you great, like being able to win matches like this even if it’s in the first round I feel like everyone deals with injuries. I would say for me, it’s been more prominent this year. But I think it’s something that I can learn. Like I learned a lot more about my body, I learned what’s weak, and what I can do to prevent it. I would say the sport is definitely very physical, but it’s kind of my job to stay on top of it,” concluded Osaka.
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Sarthak Shitole
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