After a narrow loss to Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros, Naomi Osaka quickly shifted her focus to the grass season. With five years since her last appearance on grass courts, Osaka faces the challenge of making up for lost time. However, she is ready to tackle this campaign with renewed energy and determination.
“I’m kind of taking it as this is my first year on grass,” the former World No.1 said in ‘s-Hertogenbosch earlier this month.
Her coach, Wim Fissette, discussed Osaka’s goals in an interview with WTAtennis.com. “The goals when she came back [from maternity leave] were to do much better on the clay and on the grass,” Fissette said. “After Paris, she felt like, ‘Hey, I can really mean something in the future on the clay,’ and she definitely took that confidence to the grass.”
Despite her four Grand Slam titles on hard courts, Fissette believes Osaka can excel on all surfaces. “For me it’s like Naomi was competing to win one of the two hard-court Slams in her first career,” he said. “I believe in the future, in the next five years, she will compete to win one of the four Grand Slams.”
Osaka’s return to grass courts has already shown promise. She made a notable quarterfinal run in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and fought through a narrow three-set defeat in Berlin. These results have given her team valuable insights into her grass-court potential.
Osaka is 14-13 lifetime on grass at the tour level, and she’s never made it past the third round in any of her previous three appearances at the All England Club. Ahead of Wimbledon, Osaka lost a third-set tiebreak to Bianca Andreescu in one grass-court event and fell 6-3 in the third to Zheng Qinwen in another.
Fissette emphasized the importance of adapting strategies by watching other players with similar styles. “In the past, it was big hitters that won [Wimbledon], or like very good movers, like Angelique Kerber or Simona Halep,” he said. “Or the big serves like Serena, Rybakina. It’s always you have to make for yourself the best plan.”
Having coached Kerber to a Wimbledon title in 2018 and guided Kim Clijsters to three Grand Slam titles after her first child, Fissette brings a wealth of experience to Team Osaka.
Osaka expressed her appreciation for Fissette, saying, “I think for me, he’s probably the best coach I’ve ever had, for sure. Honestly, I have a lot of really good things to say about Wim. He’s a super nice guy. He coaches me in a way that I think we both understand each other well. I’m not the type that constantly wants someone in my ear. I like to figure things out.”
As Osaka prepares for Wimbledon, she is determined to make her mark on the grass, showcasing her powerful serve and groundstrokes. With the right movement and mindset, she aims to unlock her true potential and compete for the title at the prestigious tournament.
Naomi Osaka in 2024
Ranked world no.113, Naomi played her last match on the 18th of June when she lost to world no.8 Qinwen Zheng 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the 1st round in Berlin (draw).
This season Osaka has an overall 15-12 match record.
Naomi Osaka will fight against the world no.53 Diane Parry in the 1st round on Monday at 5:00 pm on Court 2. They have never played each other till now in top tournaments.
The Japanese won 7 titles in her career: all of them conquered on hard courts. (See the list of her titles)
Naomi Osaka |
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