Naomi Osaka Thriving On and Off the Court

Osaka was locked in from the beginning, taking advantage of a slow start from Jabeur — who double-faulted three times in her opening service game — to jump ahead to an early break. That advantage eventually proved decisive, with Osaka effectively defending her second serve and continuing to draw errors from Jabeur with her flat, piercing groundstrokes.

The constant pressure from Osaka prevented Jabeur from producing the kind of tennis that had previously propelled her to three Grand Slam finals. The former World No. 1, on the other hand, remained efficient on serve in the second set, never facing a single break point.

In her pre-tournament press conference, Osaka joked she felt like she was transforming like Sailor Moon, the magical girl superhero from Japanese manga and anime, the moment she returned to train on hard courts— the surface on which she has won all of her Slams.

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“I've had so many matches on hard court under my belt, and I learned a lot from my last match on hard, which was against Garcia in Miami,” Osaka told reporters after her first-round win. “It was a little bit of a long time coming, but I'm really glad to be back on hard. I think even the way that I return now, I took from clay, so I hope that I can keep implementing things that I've learned over the months.”

After her win, Osaka stayed on court for more than 25 minutes to sign as many autographs and take as many selfies with fans as possible. For the Japanese superstar, being a role model for the next generation is a privilege that she does not take lightly.

“For me, representation is really important. I've thought that way since I was younger, I know I wouldn't be here without my role models, Serena and Venus [Williams],” Osaka said. “I was talking with someone about this the other day, but since becoming a mom — I think the word ‘role model’ has always been heavy to me, but now, I'm looking at kids looking at me and saying that I'm their favorite player, and knowing that they have a parent behind them that's kind of trusting me with that [responsibility] is really huge. If I think about [my daughter] Shai having a poster of a player, then I'm going to do a lot of research on that person, so I really feel the trust and I think it definitely means a lot to me, so I try to pay it back.”

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Osaka noted that she isn’t just inspiring young kids to pick up a racquet or pursue their dreams anymore. “Today, while I was signing autographs, a mom talked to me, and she said that she was having a tough time, and something that I said on court really helped her out,” she said. “For me it's definitely an honor. I still feel like I'm figuring myself out, so I'm always a little shocked when someone says that something that I've said or done has helped them out.”

Osaka’s victory has now propelled her back inside the world’s Top 100. She began her season ranked outside the Top 800, but has gradually worked her way back up by playing a full schedule of tournaments. The luck of the draw has also not exactly been on her side this year — she drew three-time major champion Angelique Kerber in the first round of the Olympics, and World No. 1 (and eventual champion) Iga Swiatek in the second round of Roland Garros — but Osaka said that she does not want to compare where she is now to her younger self, especially since her priorities are different.

“I feel like when I was younger, I don't want to make this sound really negative, but in a way I was searching for my purpose in life. And the way I grew up, my only purpose was tennis, and then obviously taking the year that I had as a break kind of let me see that there's so many different things in life,” she said. When asked how she would define success at this stage of her career, she added, “I would define success [now] as appreciating the little things in life that I never used to before.”

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Osaka will now face Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who defeated American qualifier Katie Volynets earlier in the day. Osaka and Mertens have split their two meetings this year — Mertens won in Indian Wells, while Osaka came out on top in ’s-Hertogenbosch to record her first grass-court win in five years — but Mertens has won their last two matches on hard courts.

The WTA's best return to Toronto this summer for the National Bank Open August 4 to 12, 2024 at Sobeys Stadium. 2024 Tickets are on sale. Get your tickets today!

Feature Photo: Peter Power