WTA Madrid: After an early exit, the French Open was the declared goal for Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka failed surprisingly early in Madrid. However, the Japanese woman knows what she has to work on - and where her priorities are.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: May 03, 2021, 07:52 am
In at least one respect, Naomi Osaka and Daniil Medvedev can be compared reasonably well: They both show themselves to be extremely strong on hard court, but they both have their hardships at the same time as they play on clay. This is what happened to the Japanese in Madrid, where Osaka went into the tournament as number two, not meeting the high demands of the second in the world rankings.
Respect for Muchova
The second round should be the last stop for Osaka, the Czech Karolina Muchova stopped the Japanese early in the WTA 1000 event. "Muchova deserved the win. The way he moved on the pitch is impressive. I would love to learn to slide on this surface like you do. I hope I can train him and learn", Osaka paid tribute to her opponent following her departure.
In addition to the slide, according to Osaka, it is clearly the direction of the game that made the difference to their disadvantage in this game : "In the first set I may have played too defensively. When I lost the first set, I knew that I would change certain things had to if I wanted to fight for the match, "explained Osaka. Although she succeeded in round two, a bad start in set three would ultimately have sealed her fate - against a brilliantly serving Karolina Muchova.
Paris the declared goal
Despite the early defeat, Osaka could take some positive things from the tournament in Madrid: "Despite the defeat, I take some positive things from this match. I've learned that I can't afford not to hit every ball on clay because that subconsciously leads to going from attacking to defending. I think that I have to be the one who has to play offensively and not my rival. "
Now the focus of the Japanese is already clearly on the French Open, which will close the European clay court season in a few weeks: "The goal is no other than to do well in Roland Garros and in these preparatory tournaments. We all come here to play . good and fighting for the title, but I'd rather be at my best level in Paris, "said Osaka.