Naomi Osaka finds comfort zone at Wimbledon after once being 'paralyzed' by fear

Japan Times

2 days ago

After years of having a rather a strained relationship with Wimbledon thanks to being "paralyzed by fear" at the thought of playing on tennis' fastest surface, Naomi Osaka feels she has finally found her grass-court wings.
The Japanese player, who has won all four of her Grand Slam titles on the hard courts of Melbourne Park and Flushing Meadows, has never found her comfort zone on the green, green grass at 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 — hardly anything to shout about for a woman who has been ranked on top of the world.
But after matching her best showing at Wimbledon on Wednesday 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 she has finally overcome the fear factor on grass.
"When I was younger, I had no fear," explained Osaka, now ranked 53rd as she continues to try to recapture her best form after taking a maternity break in 2023. "I think when you are young, you fear nothing, and that's one of the really cool things about it.
"But with age, fear kind of crept along and, I guess, paralyzed me in a way. Now I'm kind of just getting over that and trying to spread my wings on grass.
"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."
Osaka could not have picked a better year to enjoy a deep run.
Following the carnage of seeded players over the first three days, the highest seeds she could meet before a potential semifinal 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 is known for their grass court pedigree.
After two straight-set victories, Osaka will certainly fancy her chances of defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon 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," said Osaka after improving her record at Wimbledon to 7-4 on the day her daughter, Shai, celebrated 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."