Naomi Osaka ready to spread her grasscourt wings after being paralysed by fear
The Japanese star, who has won all four of her Grand Slam titles on the hardcourts of Melbourne Park and Flushing Meadows, has never found her comfort zone on the green, green grass of Wimbledon – making only four previous appearances during her 10-year professional career.
During those four visits to the All England Club, she won a total of just five matches, with third-round showings in 2017 and 2018 her standout performances.
It is hardly anything to shout about for a woman who has been ranked on top of the world.
But after matching her best-ever Wimbledon showing on July 2 with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 win over Czech Katerina Siniakova, who has won the Wimbledon women's doubles title three times, Osaka feels that she has finally overcome the fear factor on grass.
"When I was younger, I had no fear. I think when you are young, you fear nothing, and that's one of the really cool things about it," explained Osaka, now ranked 53rd as she continues to try to recapture her best form after taking a maternity break in 2023.
"But with age fear kind of crept along and, I guess, paralysed me in a way. Now I'm kind of just getting over that and trying to spread my wings on grass.
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"I think it is working, and I think I am moving pretty well. Yeah, I just hope that in years to come and hopefully this year I can do a lot better in this tournament."
The 27-year-old could not have picked a better year to enjoy a deep run at the tournament.
Following the carnage of seeds over the first three days, the highest seeds she could meet before a potential semi-final against either world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or Australian Open champion Madison Keys are No. 13 Amanda Anisimova or No. 30 Linda Noskova -- neither of whom are known for their grass-court pedigree.
After two straight-set victories, she will certainly fancy her chances of defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on July 4 to reach the last 16 here for the first time, considering the Russian has not beaten her since 2017.
"Definitely this year I feel a lot more comfortable moving on grass," added Osaka after improving her Wimbledon win-loss record to 7-4 on the day her daughter Shai was celebrating her second birthday.
"I know the last couple of years I was really scared to move because when I was younger, I strained my knee or whatever. It took a couple of years to get over that but I definitely feel a lot more comfortable." REUTERS
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