Naomi Osaka left inspired by Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev in laser sharp clay court block before Rome Open
WTAFriday, 10 May 2024 at 13:57
A first top 20 win on clay for Naomi Osaka against Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-2 yesterday at the Rome Open seemingly had some sort of a plan to it which the former World No.1 revealed was due to watching tape of Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and even Andrey Rublev.
After losing early in Madrid and even Rouen before that, it hasn't been the best start to Osaka's clay court return until she got to Rome in which she has strung together multiple wins in a row and looked epic in doing so. Well known for having her notebook on court, it seems she is certainly putting her plan into action.
"So I went to Mallorca. Honestly, I did a really solid block of just focusing on what I want my clay court tennis to look like. I watched some videos. I watched Rafa. I watched Alcaraz. I watched Rublev actually which is very inspiring because he's smacking the ball," Osaka said.
"I kind of thought to myself, like, I don't want to have regrets when I leave the court. In Madrid I did kind of have regrets of not swinging fully. Focusing on that a lot, yeah," she added.
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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