Naomi Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion, is back on the court and is ready to face the clay’s challenges. Since her first tournament in the 2016 Charleston Open, she has had no noteworthy clay-court runs.

However, after her splendid performance on the hard courts of Miami, she is high on energy. Owing to that energy and self-belief, she has given a kick start to her first clay-based tournament on Spanish soil.

Naomi Osaka Speaks About Learning Tricks to Conquer Clay

Osaka, earlier after her run to the finale of Miami Open 2022, addressed her excitement for the clay-court season. She seemed ready to change her records up till now by pulling some tricks off her sleeves. And she has finally played her cards in the very first clay-court tournament of hers.

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The former world, no.1, defeated 21-year-old Russian tennis professional Anastasia Potapova in straight sets of 6-3, 6-1. Upon being asked if the moves worked for her in the match, she said, “I don’t know if I just say it. No player really reads — okay, whatever. I’m just going to tell you. Okay.”

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“It’s like you know what I did at the match point? Like stuff like that. I believe watching like Nadal, Iga does it too, which I think is really cool, but just like knowing when to kind of hit a forehand instead of a backhand and knowing when to run around. I think a lot of really good clay-court players do that, so I’m trying to learn how to do that, as well,” she added.

What Lies Ahead?

After thrashing the Istanbul Open champion Potapova in straight sets and snapping her 9-match win streak, she is pitted against the former world no.47 Sara Sorribes Tormo. Naomi Osaka will lock horns with the Spanish tennis professional in the second round of the Madrid Open. Tormo started the year with back-to-back quarterfinal runs in Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Although her form took a dip during the sunshine double, she bounced back in the Istanbul Open. Tormo made it up to the last eight of the tournament and started the Madrid Open by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

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However, Osaka seems ready to take her down. As she gave a tough fight to the current World No.1 Iga Swiatek in Miami and breezed past her first opponent of clay.