"She's the ideal No.1" says Naomi Osaka on Ashleigh Barty

Many tennis players thought of Osaka as the rightful number one at a time when Barty kept her spot thanks to the protective ranking in place during the pandemic. Barty elected not to play in 2020 and she kept her number one ranking which many thought was not right. Osaka does not mind Barty as the number one recognizing her greatness ahead of the Australian Open.

Speaking about her, she said:

"For me, I think she's the ideal No.1. She's so consistent. I saw last year all the sacrifices she made to travel without coming back to Australia. I knew that must have been really tough."

Speaking futher on Barty, Osaka admitted that her positivey is awesome:

"Last year I only practised with her one time. It was at the French Open. I think she's really amazing. She's always so positive. She and her coach, they're always really nice to everyone that I can see. Yeah, I really like her a lot."

Osaka is the defending champion of the Australian Open but many consider Barty the favourite considering the level she showed at the start of the season.