Miami Open: Naomi Osaka is back - and yet she was never gone
Naomi Osaka (WTA No. 77) is in the final of the Miami Open - but has a hard time with the thought of being "back".
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Apr 02, 2022, 09:03 am
There were beautiful pictures at the end of the semifinals at the Miami Open: Naomi Osaka sat on her bench and cried - only this time it was tears of joy. Compared to what happened almost two weeks ago, when Osaka was thrown off balance by a heckling idiot in Indian Wells.
So Osaka is back on the road to success and mentally she seems to be doing better too. In Miami, she said she had finally sought appropriate help and that it had done her good, she explained.
It also seems clear that Osaka, if she scores, is one of the absolute top players on the tour, regardless of her ranking of 77th place at the moment. She slipped down mainly because of her few tournament participations in the past. And accordingly finds it difficult to be "back". "A lot of people tell me things like 'You're back' or something. To be honest: I don't feel like I've been away, if that makes sense. (...) I just haven't played any matches. It There were situations where I lost early on, but I played good matches all the time."
She understands if "non-tennis fans" think that way because she is not in the ranking where she is expected, said the ex-world number one. "But I don't think there's a player in the world who wants me as an opponent in the first round or anything."
Naomi Osaka explains her difficulties with Belinda Bencic
It should also be a good feeling for Osaka to have beaten "fear opponent" Belinda Bencic in the semifinals, the Swiss had previously led 4-1 in a direct comparison and 4-0 at tour level.
Osaka explained why Bencic is so difficult for her to play by saying that everything Bencic plays does not suit her. "If I say that my serve and my forehand are my greatest strengths: they return fantastically, so that puts me under direct pressure, gives me an ugly position that I don't like," Osaka said.
And then Bencic was aggressive from the first hit. "Although her ball doesn't hit that hard, if that makes sense. It's sort of fast, but not hard." Accordingly, she has to adjust her footwork because there is no other player, she plays like Bencic. "I often stand on the back foot, but I'm confused as to why, because the ball wasn't that hard."
In the final, Osaka meets Iga Swiatek (from 7 p.m. CEST), also one with a rather unusual game, with a lot of spin on the club. In 2019, the duel was the only time in Toronto so far. Here Osaka won in straight sets.
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