Naomi Osaka admits facing a good player calmed her down

Naomi Osaka had to face a very solid Pavlyuchenkova in the opening round of the Australian Open and in a way it calmed her down.

When the draw paired up Naomi Osaka and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova it was one of the toughest 1st round draws in recent memory but the Japanese player was more than impressive in her opener. In just 68 minutes she moved past the Russian who could not win three games in a 6-1 6-2 defeat to Osaka. After the match Osaka recalled their 2019 match saying it's always tough facing a good player so early:

"I feel like for me the most recent memory I have of playing her was in the Osaka final [to win the title in 2019], so it's always really hard to play someone that good in the first round,"

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Osaka was sensational in this match dropping only 13 points on her serve and losing it only once while dominating Anastasia on the Russian's serve. She also said how facing her kind of calmed her down:

"For me, I feel like it might have also helped in a way because I calmed my nerves because I felt like I couldn't afford to be that nervous. I kind of expected that because I always want to do well in Slams. I never want to lose in the first round."

The match was never in doubt and for Osaka it was like cruise control. She moves on to the next round where she will ace a very solid Caroline Garcia.

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🚢 Cruise control. @naomiosaka advances to the second round of #AO2021 with a 6-1 6-2 win over Pavlyuchenkova. #AusOpen

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