“I guess I need to learn how to win again,” said Naomi Osaka after her heartbreaking first-round exit at the Paris Olympics. However, it seems that the Japanese tennis star is ready to get back on the winning track sooner than ever. And she is not shying away from watching and learning from the current top players after her defeat. Moreover, if her recent words were to be taken into account, Osaka would be a threat at the upcoming Canadian Open. She looks forward to regaining her lost glory at the US Open and a challenge for the current champion, Coco Gauff.

It has been years since Osaka made it to a Grand Slam semi-final, let alone a winning one. Her last title came at the Australian Open in 2022. And what followed was a beautiful motherhood journey with the birth of her daughter, Shai. However, since then she has been struggling to regain her form back, as her participation is marked with early rounds exit. The player who was once famous for her hard-court exploits seems to be lost nowadays. However, as she participates in the Canadian Open, the Japanese have released a strong message in the hope of turning the tables around.

The National Bank Open, Toronto, released Osaka’s thoughts on their Instagram account. She said, “As soon as my foot touch the hard court, I felt like Sailor Moon, just transforming.” Rightly so, Osaka’s all four Grand Slam came from the hard courts of Australia and the US Open. And as the last major of the season is knocking on the doors, it’s time for the Japanese to regain her form resonating with her intent shared.

Japanese return to her winning form is a massive threat to the current US Open champion Gauff, who is facing a challenge with her crumbling in the singles, with a most recent display at the Paris Olympics? And if Rick Macci’s words are to be believed, Gauff won her first grand slam aided by “a lot of Houdini escapes.” And she needs to transform her play style.

He further remarked, “She has a big swing, she has a severe grip, which is okay, but I want to rewire the whole thing.” Nothing could be more terrifying than the defending champion’s crown under the threat of being snatched. And Osaka is working on it, even if she has to take a few things from Iga Swiatek.

Naomi Osaka ‘stalks’ Iga Swiatek to take some winning moves from the champion

Osaka has been hanging by a thread in the majors, making early exits. The same trend followed during the Paris Olympics, a first-round exit. However, being the fighter she is, Osaka chose to stay back and observe the champions as they proceeded further in the tournament. In the hope of picking up some recent moves to aid her winning strategy. This time she watched, or rather stalked the World No.1.

She said, “Honestly, I was stalking Iga. I was like watching her practice at the Olympics and for me, that’s something I want to do more like watch the great players because there’s always something I can pick up on and I know she has one of the better footwork or probably the best footwork skills on the WTA so yeah I’m just trying to copy a little.”

Would Swiatek’s footsteps come to Osaka’s aid as she looks forward to being back on the winning track? Canadian Open would certainly answer this.