Naomi Osaka: 'I never felt so nervous during a match'
In a press conference at the French Open Naomi Osaka analyzed her three-set win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. The Japanese player admitted the nerves influenced her. "For me, I think this is the most nervous I have ever been my entire life during a match. I think you could see that in the first set. I was literally not hitting any balls in the court. For me, today was weird because usually, the nerves go away, but it kind of stayed the entire match. Then I just felt like it was a fight of willpower. Yeah, I managed to win in the end, so... I can give you logical reasons, but I'm not really a logical person. So it might be something else (smiling). Logical reasons, first time playing a Grand Slam as No. 1. Won the last two, so I kind of want to win this one really bad. I have never played on Chatrier before. This was my first time. And, yeah, I kind of feel like I'm having the thought of wanting to prove myself again, so...
I was just thinking, like, I have so many shots that I normally feel like I would hit well, and then it was just one of those, like -- I was sort of just -- what was my thought process behind that? It was definitely sarcastic. I was kind of thinking, Do you guys see this amazing tennis I'm playing right here (smiling)? Thumbs up. I don't even know what I wanted them to do. I felt kind of bad after I did it. It was more like I had to put my emotions somewhere. Yeah, for me today was a bit tough, because, like, it's one of those matches where you're not playing well but you have to find a way to win. For me, I've just begun learning how to do that."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2WtBfBK
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