Naomi Osaka was far too strong for home grown heroine Coco Gauff in their US Open Round of 16 clash, winning 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour and 4 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Osaka revealed that she is making a conscious effort to improve her body language whilst on court, and to enjoy herself more.
“I think, like, for me the main what I want to take away from this tournament is just smiling and having fun.
“I know in my first round I was too nervous to smile, and my match against (Daria) Kasatkina was just really not smiley at all.
“Going into this match, I just wanted to be grateful. Yeah, I mean, she’s one of the best players in the world.
“For me, honestly, I have the most fun when I play against the best players.
“I love when they hit amazing shots or they hit aces, because you know, that’s how they won the tournaments that they won.
“I always see it as a challenge. Yeah, I like challenges.”
‘Happy warrior’
Naomi Osaka expanded on this new ‘happy warrior’ mode of playing and the influence her new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski has had on her approach.
“Yeah, I think definitely. You know, he seemed like such a tough guy to me, but actually when he smiles, he really is like a teddy bear.
“When we talk after matches, he’s not harsh at all. He’s like always very proud and encouraging.
“I feel like it kind of creates a safe space for me to, like, you know, be able to express myself and my tennis.”
Benefits
Naomi Osaka expanded more on the benefits that her new coach has brought to her game.
“I feel like Tomasz gave me a game plan, and I executed it pretty well. All credit to him. Yeah, it was just very clear for me what I had to do from the beginning.
“If I stepped outside of those lines, it was very easy to go back in them. Yeah, I mean, I think for me every match is very different, and obviously the more matches you play at a slam especially, you kind of just learn more and you feel more comfortable.”
‘Played better’
Oasake appears to be building momentum nicely.
“For me today, I don’t know, I definitely feel like I played better than the last match I played, but it’s going to be interesting to see what happens the more matches I get under my belt.”
Osaka mentioned how having a concrete game plan helped her handle some of Gauff’s weapons.
“Yeah, I think for me, you know, I know Coco is probably the fastest, if not one of the fastest, players on tour.
“I also think that says a lot for me to be completely fine with playing long rallies with her and just knowing that I’m okay not going for anything until I get my, like, perfect opportunity.
“So, honestly, that was a part of my plan was just not to, like, freak out when she gets a lot of balls back and just keep building the point.”
No plans to retire
Naomi Osaka expressed not having any thoughts about retiring just yet.
“It’s one thing to say it, but I think to actually do it, to hang up my racquet for me permanently would be a very scary thing.”
“I’ve been playing this sport since I was three. I tell people it’s like breathing air to me. I wouldn’t really know what to do.”
Dave Marshall is reporting exclusively from the US Open in Flushing Meadows for The South African.
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