Naomi Osaka revealed that her French Open battle versus Iga Swiatek gave her “confidence” she could compete on any surface – but has her sight set on a huge rankings leap back on her beloved hard courts.
Back at Roland Garros, the former world No 1 pushed Swiatek to the brink in a titanic round two clash, missing a match point in a three-set tussle.
Despite defeat, the four-time major winner admitted that that result gave her “confidence” for future tournaments on clay and also on grass, another surface she has struggled.
But, after returning to hard courts in Toronto, Osaka conceded she is looking forward to her favourite part of the season.
She said: “You know, that Iga match did wonders for my confidence, I’m not going to lie.
“I’m optimistically looking forward to clay next year. Grass, I’m looking at it from a distance, but I’m willing to learn, I’m going to watch a lot of tapes of Serena. That’s kind of a next-year thing.
“I think for me now I’m really focusing on US Open, Asia, that’s kind of the areas that I thrive, so I’m, I don’t know, looking forward to it.”
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Osaka’s Canadian Open campaign was mixed, beating Ons Jabeur heavily in round one before a loss to Elise Mertens.
She will now be in qualifying action at the Cincinnati Open this week, before returning to the US Open at the end of the month.
Two of her four Slams have come in New York and the other two came at the Australian Open, cementing her place as a leading hard-courter of her generation.
And she hopes that the lessons learnt from Toronto can power her through a strong summer – and ultimately back into the top 10 of the WTA Rankings at some point.
“Yeah, I mean, you know what, shoot for the stars,” added the 26-year-old.
“I, unfortunately, have always suffered from perfectionism and I doubt myself a lot, but I think going through this process and having really tough losses, I’ve learned a lot about myself and I learned that I really love this game, and am willing to do whatever it takes to get to where I feel like I deserve to be.
“I know there’s going to be a lot more tough losses, but hopefully I’ll be back in the top 10.
“I think playing Ons the other day and playing Mertens, I played two really quality opponents, they were both quite different, but I’m hoping that I’m able to establish my game and grow more confidence in that.
“I think the hard court for me is where I feel the most comfortable, and honestly, I had a lot of fun.”
