Naomi Osaka played her first match since the US Open in Australia and the Japanese player felt glad to be back on the court despite a wonky performance.
It was not the best performance by Osaka in her match against Cornet but the French player is known as a tricky player and Osaka had not played for many months. After the match, she also met with the media which many wondered about considering Osaka's stance last year. She said:
“For me, I just want to feel like every time I step on the court I’m
having fun, I can walk off the court knowing that even if I lost, I
tried as hard as I could. Also, I have a goal in the pressroom, that I’m never going to cry again, so hopefully, that works out in my favour."
The quotes show a certain determination by Osaka to show everybody that she took the time away from the court to mature as a person. Osaka admitted that she also felt a certain kind of pressure with tennis that made her forget the important thing:
“I’m the type of person that cared a little bit too much about the results and the ranking and stuff like that and I just need to find a way to enjoy the game again – because that’s the reason why I was playing in the first place.”
It seems like she rediscovered the joy of playing tennis again and that should od her well as she gears up to defend her Australian Open title in two weeks.