Naomi Osaka won her 4th Grand Slam title earlier today defeating Jennifer Braday in the Australian Open finals.
After the stellar match, she sat down with reporters to discuss her emotions following the brilliant performance that bagged her the 4th Grand Slam title. Speaking about expectations she said:
“I don't look at expectations as a burden anymore. I feel like I'm at the point now where it's something that I've worked for. Like, people wouldn't expect things from me if I hadn't done things prior. If that makes sense."
Speaking on that topic further she explained that pressure for her is like motivation:
“I feel like no one has expected things of me when I was younger, and now that I have kind of climbed up the ranks, of course, there's going to be more pressures, but I feel like also that's motivation because I also want to do better for myself, as well.”
The conversation also shifted towards Serena Williams who was a great inspiration for Osaka and speaking on that topic she touched upon something that would mean a lot to her:
“I feel like the biggest thing that I want to achieve is … this is going to sound really odd, but hopefully I play long enough to play a girl that said that I was once her favourite player or something. I think that's the coolest thing that could ever happen to me. I just think that that's how the sport moves forward.”
Check out the full press conferece below: