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NEW YORK – This is the biggest day of Naomi Osaka's life.
She is about to play her first Grand Slam final in a few hours. And she can not eat a piece of food. She can not even get close to something that smells of food. The mere thought of it pushes her to vomit. She woke up and found that she was perspiring through her shirt. She spent hours pacing around her hotel room and repeatedly calling her sister, Mari, who tried to make her think of the final as another game.
"I shouted at him:" What do you mean by another match? It's a grand slam final and it's Serena! Naomi remembers her unique way of remembering conversations.
But how is it that Osaka, who could not keep the food a few hours ago, came out on the pitch for the final – and managed the controversies surrounding it – to beat his opponent? And not any opponent.
Just days after winning the US Open to become the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam title, Naomi Osaka is engaged as a "brand ambassador" of the Japanese automaker Nissan.
Naomi Osaka defeated Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 to win the women's title of the US Open in 2018 in a controversial match that saw Williams receive a match penalty.
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If you have followed him on the main stage during the past year, this makes no sense. Out of court, she avoids people and conversations; she is completely nerdy and likes to play video games in the early hours of the evening; she becomes nervous before the big matches. She apologizes a lot. She leaves random thoughts and calls her weird brain. She is shy and funny, especially at press conferences.
"She is so perfectionist that she wins and she's too tough for herself, so I have to make a difference," said Sascha Bajin, Osaka's coach and former star partner (Serena Williams , Caroline Wozniacki, to name a few), told reporters earlier this year. "If it's too negative, I have to say," All is well. The earth is round. The grass is green. "And we keep moving forward, but in general, she's harder with herself than she should be … For a 20-year-old to stay humble … I mean, we went to the movies to celebrate the victory of Indian Wells. "
On the ground, a feeling of calm crosses it. She loves when 20,000 people watch her, and when fans shout words of support. She thrives when the crowd is against her. All this motivates her to play her best tennis.
"I am not a researcher of attention," says Osaka. "But every time I play tennis, I feel like I'm very good and I know it's not a talent, but I've been working on it for so long, I want the people are watching. "
This paradox has so far worked for Osaka, and it is also what will propel her to become one of the biggest stars of tennis.
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The 2018 US Open champion, Naomi Osaka, joins ESPN to break her point in the dispute between Serena Williams and the chair umpire.
Two hours after his 6-2, 6-4 victory over Williams, Osaka entered the players' lounge, the US Open trophy in hand, looking stunned and clearly overwhelmed by the number of journalists and organizers sitting around the table. she with questions. Bajin, who had just received his own trophy from the US Open (the winner's coach receives him later in the day), walks around and shows off his prize. "My trophy is here," he said loudly. She looks at him and smiles.
"Normally, I do not – offend your guys – I do not really like being surrounded by people," she says.
When a reporter asked her if she was worried about what her idol Serena would think of her after having beaten her for the second time this year, Osaka said, "Oh my god, I'm not sure. I had never thought of it. I hope Serena is not mad at me or something. "
"Is not it like raising a kid, though?" The child grows up with you and then you look at the kid like, "Wow, I'm proud of you," and then you cook something in the kitchen and then the kid suddenly comes in and cooks better than you I do not know … "She goes away. "I am sorry." (And that was not the first time she'd apologized during the roundtable.)
Even at the awards ceremony after her victory, one of the first words she said was sorry. "I know everyone was encouraging [Serena] and I'm sorry to have to finish like this. "
But Osaka 's ability to compartmentalize so early in his career was one of the factors that led him to win his first career Grand Slam title. After her brilliant run at Indian Wells in March, when she had lost only one set to win her first major tournament, Osaka had a slight setback, losing three straight games (in Washington DC, Montreal and Cincinnati) before the US Open. . She remembered crying in the locker room after every game, thinking that she was an ugly tennis player.
– NaomiOsaka 大 坂 な お み (@Naomi_Osaka_) August 16, 2018
But she said that she had to experience failure to succeed again. She had to give up the past and just do what she does best: "hit the tennis ball and have fun doing it," she says.
Then she arrived at the Open.
Even before she hit a single ball at Flushing Meadows, the experts and coaches were waiting for her to make a breakthrough, and soon. Tsuyoshi Yoshitani, a sports journalist with Kyodo News, predicted that Osaka would become the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam. Kei Nishikori told reporters early in the tournament that Osaka was playing good tennis and was able to beat the best players.
"I've been hitting with Serena almost everyday for eight years, and Naomi's guns are just as important," Bajin said at a press conference before the event. "She's not afraid of the central scene either, and that's why I believe she's got greatness in her."
In his quarter-final match against Aryna Sabalenka, Osaka waved and mumbled after a 2-1 break in the third set. She was clearly crazy about making several forehand errors. Fans have started to leave the Louis Armstrong Stadium. But Osaka then beat Sabalenka 2-2 and won the set (and match) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
"You keep fighting, trying to reach the breaking point, and then, for it to come up with a few hits, it was difficult," Keys said about Osaka after the defeat. "But you're in this game and you think," OK, she'll end up letting go. "She did not do it, so … all the merit, for a first semifinalist on a big stage and all that, it was really impressive." She held her time, n & # 39; Never had a problem. "
Throughout the final against Williams, Osaka said that she thought to herself: "What would Serena do?" She was also realistic about her expectations. She said: "It's not over just because I'm in. Serena will come back as she has already done a thousand times." She says that the thought process allowed her to take all the points seriously, because not doing so was a lack of respect for the greatest athlete who has ever practiced this sport.
It's silly to make comparisons, but Osaka makes you feel the same as when you look at Williams. It is not over until players shake hands. If Osaka is 15-40 at the match point, you're still thinking, "She's going to get there." When Caroline Wozniacki won the Australian Open in 2018, the headlines said: "It was a surprise". When Simona Halep won the Open France 2018, said the experts, "finally". Although Angelique Kerber had won 2018 at Wimbledon, the odds still did not allow her to win the US Open. But when Naomi Osaka won the US Open in 2018, the immediate reaction of the experts was: "That's it, it's the next star."
Still, whether she has a Grand Slam or 10, Osaka says she will always feel slightly uncomfortable every time she enters a press conference. It will feel surreal with any trophy and it will be great to play in front of a huge crowd. None of these contradictory things will simply change because of the Grand Slam title.
"I will always be the same person, I do not know how to do otherwise," she says.
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