"Prefer to peak at French Open" - Osaka remains positive despite early Madrid Open exit

Naomi Osaka did not have a great day on Sunday in Madrid as she lost to Karolina Muchova in three sets.

That loss ended her Madrid run which saw her only win one match on clay which is far from what she might have wanted of the trip to the Spanish capital. It was her first clay event since the French Open in 2019. After the match she kept it positive saying:

"I have a pretty positive outlook on it. I can control my attitude and how hard I fought and for me, I thought I did really well. Physically I don't think I got tired. I just made some pretty bad decisions point-wise in crucial moments."

For Osaka, the goal heading into the French Open is to win it but the Japanese player has never moved past R3 before. Speaking about her preparation for it she said:

"These tournaments are called warm-up tournaments and of course we all come here to win and do well at these tournaments too, but I would prefer to peak at the French Open as opposed to winning this tournament and then kind of go downhill."

Osaka was adamant that this defeat did not negatively influence her confidence as she had an honest talk with her team after the loss which made her feel good. On that she said:

"I am really happy with how I was able to talk with my team after I lost and after I came off the court. I think we really have a plan now, so I think it's good."

Osaka will several more events to prepare for the French Open and she will need to do much better if she wants to win the French Open.