Naomi Osaka says she is not chasing no. 1, only wants to win matches

Naomi Osaka, currently the world number 3, is not chasing the no.1 anymore as she used to in the past but only wants to play hard and win matches.

Ever since the Japenese player became number 1. the ranking has played a significant part in her life as it does for any other tennis player. The number itself has a certain allure and prestige especially when it's referring to you as being the best in something. For Osaka, it's a driving force but it doesn't consume her as it did in the past. Asked if it was important to her she said:

"I would say yes, but it doesn't bother me as much as it used to because I remember when I first got to No.1, I think nobody really acknowledged me as No. 1. I remember I was in Indian Wells, and I was talking to someone. They were like, What side of the draw are you on? And the No.1 is always on the top side. It just made me think like, wow, people don't really see me as No.1."

Her rise to stardom was fast and there was mistrust in her abilities to be number one player. It was her own version of the impostor syndrome. After she lost it she tried to chase it helplessly which she explained was a 'bad mindset':

"I feel like since that point, two years ago or was it last year? No, two years ago. I just kept trying to prove myself. I felt like that wasn't really a good mindset to have."

Going into this Australian Open she had a different mindset and she said she feels much better:

"I feel like right now I'm at a really good place like I just want to play every match as hard as I can. If it comes to the point where I'm able to be No.1 again, I'll embrace it, but I'm not really chasing it like that anymore."

Speaking on her career so far and ambitions going forward she simply put it as:

"I don't know. My career, it's been kind of up and down a lot, and people don't really know when I'm going to do well in a tournament or when I'm not. I think my ultimate goal is just to at least reach the quarterfinals or better at every tournament I play, and hopefully win most of them. If not, then just to give a really good performance."