‘It Really Meant a Lot to Me’ – Naomi Osaka on the Change in People’s Expectations of Her at Indian Wells 2022

Former world no.1 Naomi Osaka had a pretty great start at the Indian Wells 2022 as she beat the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in three sets. 2022 has not been a great year for the Japanese player as she wasn’t able to defend her Australian Open crown and lost in the third-round to Amanda Anisimova.

However, Osaka showed positive intent in Melbourne and planned to continue doing the same for the rest of the season. In the press conference at Indian Wells, the Japanese player talked about having low expectations and mentioned that she will be out there to have fun. 

Naomi Osaka wants to enjoy the time spent on court at Indian Wells

Osaka, who had a rough 2021 season, is looking to play more frequently and also wants to play without having the burden of winning every tournament she partakes in.

“I’m really grateful because I was watching qualifying the other day here and was walking around and usually when I walk around, people are like ‘win the tournament, I have tickets to the final’ kind of thing. And, actually, people were just saying, ‘I hope you have fun.’ I know that’s not the biggest difference, but it really meant a lot to me.”

Naomi continued, “Honestly, I feel like I’m at peace with myself, which I think is a great feeling to have as a person. For me, the biggest focus this year is, of course, I want to do well in every tournament. But I think just knowing that I tried as hard as I could and I enjoyed myself .I felt the difference in Australia. I actually left the court thinking, ‘You know what, I did my best. And I had match points. That was pretty good.’”

Even though she feels the expectations are low at the Indian Wells, she has a great opportunity to gain some form back as well as some ranking points.

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Naomi’s impressive start at the Indian Wells

Earlier, Naomi got a wild card entry to play the BNP Paribas Open due owing to slump in her WTA rankings off late. However, after Italian player Camila Giorgi’s withdrawal, she got into the main draw without a wild card. 

On Friday, she made an impressive start to the tournament by beating 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens in the first round,3-6,6-1,6-2. The Japanese player will now meet Veronika Kudermetova. 

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