More unexpected victories and titles should await Naomi Osaka next season
She relates to herself as 'chill' and rightfully so, at 21 years of age she's won two WTA titles, has gotten an award as 'The Best in Press', has accumulated many sponsorships and has paid tribute to her father on his birthday. Naomi Osaka on court acts more mature than her years and manages to keep her mental reserve intact as she adjusts her sun visor on crucial serves and points while dissecting and dismantling her opponents' game to win a match for herself. But she sort of gives her actions away by saying that on court "I was extremely stressed and extremely nervous but my plan was to like fake that I'm very calm..." Regardless if she is faking being calm or not, the point is that she gets on the court and very often overrides her opponents' game and is victorious, but when not, she puts it all out there, trying to go for the win at her opponents' expense.
This season for Osaka was a melodrama, to say the least. She had won her maiden title at Indian Wells by defeating top players as Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep and Daria Kasatkina. Within the 7 rounds, she only lost one set and that was to Greece's Maria Sakkari. Since one's first title is monumental, Osaka didn't prepare an appropriate acceptance speech at Indian Wells, but all who have heard her vocal expressions know that not being prepared and giving impromptu jargon is the appropriate expected speech for Naomi Osaka. "I'd like to thank Dasha for being super nice and also being a really cool person to play against..." she smilingly said to Kasatkina. But she never omits a few realistic ideas in her talk and continues on saying "...I'm pretty sure we're going to play a lot of finals and stuff later...hopefully..." This meaning that if she plays consistent enough she may make it to the finals of tournaments. The idea of her not preparing well on her speeches is good enough and her admittance is always well received when she comments that "This is going to be like the worst acceptance speech of all-time..." At Roland Garros, she was stopped by the third round from Madison Keys, who herself has had her glory moments of victory and down times of opening round defeats. Osaka's zest of grand slam fashion didn't end as she got to only the third round of Wimbledon defeated by former no. 1 Angelique Kerber. The young Japanese admitted that her remedy to play Kerber is "Staying really calm and accepting if she makes a really good winner". Osaka made her grand slam quarterfinal of her career at the U.S. Open defeating Aryna Sabalenka in three sets. She contributes her determination for wanting to win as she played Sabalenka that "I was just thinking that I have to fight for every point. Even if I break a leg I should try to get to every ball". Moving on to her second title of the year the U.S. Open was a balancing act for her to partake of feeling grateful she could win a grand slam and from her idol no less, but with too much fanfare, horrendous moments and tearful glorious times that somewhat tainted her time of overreigning victory.
The grand slams this season didn't seem to be Osaka's strong points except for the Open. She made the quarters at the Australian and French Open and Wimbledon but after a while, the victories are the ones that matter no matter what. Osaka is a big jokester and when asked about her coach Sascha Bajin giving pep talks she laughed and said "We have talked before the match but I think I forgot everything he told me...The thing is he didn't really tell me...I think he just threw me on the court..." Naomi Osaka performs on the court with impromptu spirit. If one thing doesn't work then she'll change strategies. It appears as this method works for her and if she's going to get two and more titles out of her performances each year, that is grand, far more than many who haven't found their niche yet and anxious to get to that safer and happier place performing on court as Naomi Osaka.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2G54d3D
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