"I was just like, 'Whoa, this bus is really backing up into us'" - Naomi Osaka describes car accident day before second round clash at Roland Garros

Naomi Osaka is not known for her expertise on clay, but she is still proving to be a tricky customer to come up against at Roland Garros. She overcame a car accident which occurred a couple of days ago to defeat Donna Vekic 7-6(1), 6-4.

The former world number one broke back as Vekic was serving the first set out, having her blushes saved in the tiebreak after missing three set points in the prior game. She would collect the final three games in the match to seal a very valuable victory in the French Open.

"I mean, today was really tough. But I was glad to be able to finish in two sets because every game felt really, really close. That’s probably my biggest takeaway," Osaka said in her press conference.

Two days ago, Osaka was involved in a car accident which would have played on her mind coming up to this second round tie. She almost saw the incident in slow motion, recovering well before moving. "I realised that in moments of danger or whatever, I react very slowly. I was just like, 'hey, it’s happening.' I don’t really panic when the situation’s occurring," she recalled.

"So I wasn’t scared for my life, but I was just like, 'Whoa, this bus is really backing up into us,' and you could hear the car crunching. It was a really interesting situation, so I hope it doesn’t happen again today. I think the bus just couldn’t see us. It literally kept crunching the car and just kept going. I was a little worried because the impact was turning the car, but eventually I think it saw us."

It is becoming a trend for Osaka to take the headlines before a tennis match has even started after showing off her fashion taste when walking onto court. She described her latest outfit.

"For the outfit, the inspiration was kind of Victorian — you know, the dresses with the poof in the back," she described. "That was the inspiration, although it’s terrible that I don’t know the proper term for it."

The conversation soon went back to tennis as she spoke on how to balance the aggressive and defensive actions on court. "I don’t really care how I win the point. You win the point regardless. I think it gets tricky when you play people you have to be aggressive against. For example, I think it would be hard to beat someone like Aryna Sabalenka just by being defensive.

"On the tour now, you don’t really see players who are purely defensive anymore. You have to know how to finish points. But personally, I’ve never had an ego about being aggressive or not. Honestly, when I was younger, I actually preferred to play defensively."

Osaka, very much known as an aggressive player, needs to adapt her style to get the best results on clay, something that she has not done so well in the past. It is just the fourth time she has reached the French Open third round, and never further.

"On clay, you obviously expect points to be longer. I think today there were a couple of things I could have done better," she said. "I’ve been talking with Tomas a lot, and he gave me a game plan for today. Maybe I didn’t listen as well as I could have. But I do like the movement on clay, especially on my forehand side. My shots are a little heavier there, and it pushes opponents back more than on hard courts. Hopefully I won’t keep playing people who drop-shot me all the time, because I’m realising that’s definitely a trend on clay courts."

Iva Jovic is her next task. The 18-year-old dropped just three games enroute to demolishing the Strasbourg champion Emma Navarro, and looks threatening in this tournament.

"Honestly, I don’t know much about her. I’ve seen her play a little bit in passing, but I haven’t sat down and watched a full match. But I’m really impressed by her. She’s gotten here very quickly — although obviously it’s been years of hard work for her.

"I watched a little of her match against Jasmine Paolini at the Australian Open and she’s really, really good. I’m excited for the match because we’ve actually had a lot of chances to play each other before, but either she would lose in that round or I would lose in that round, so we never officially met. It’s cool that it’s finally happening here."

The four-time Grand Slam champion admitted that she has focused on rapidly improving her fitness and physicality on sport, something crucial for clay. "I’ve definitely focused a lot on my physical fitness. That’s also something I’ve grown into since coming back from pregnancy.

"I’ve told people that when I first came back, I didn’t really feel like I was in my body. Over the last three years, I’ve gradually started feeling more and more like myself again. At the same time, tennis is evolving and changing from how it was when I first came onto the tour. I’m just trying to get as many balls back as I can and stay healthy."

Mentally as well there are improvements. "Mentally, I’m a lot different than I was even last year. Last year, tight matches stressed me out so much that I couldn’t really handle them. I would panic a lot. This year, I’m trying to play point by point, and honestly, I’m okay with the concept of losing — as long as I gave it my best shot and made it as tough as possible for the opponent. I was thinking that during today’s match. There were moments when she broke me, but I just wanted to stay calm and make her work for it."

The heat also has played a part in many matches this year, including in the world number one Jannik Sinner's defeat in the ATP side of the tournament. "Honestly, I use the ice towel, but that’s mostly because I got used to using it after the first match," she commented. I don’t think today was as hot as my opening match, but I kind of like the heat. I almost want them to turn it up a little bit. I like the feeling of working hard and sweating. For me, it’s something I’m very comfortable with."