INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 7, 2025

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/S. Errani

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Naomi. How pleased were you with your win today?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, yeah, definitely really happy. I know that Sara is a really great opponent. She's from Italy. So I'm just really glad to be able to do it in two sets.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Just wanted to ask you about your week in Saint-Malo. What was it like? It imagine it must have been a bit strange. You had to find your game a bit. It looks like it was a really valuable week for you at the end.

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, definitely I think going there for me is something that I wasn't expecting because I kind of told everyone I would just play Madrid and Rome. Obviously I lost in the first round of Madrid. Patrick kind of proposed going there. I knew I needed matches anyways, so that's kind of how that came about.

But yeah, I'm really glad that I did end up going there. It's a really beautiful city. I've never had a crêpe before, but I had a crêpe after the final, and it was the best crêpe of my life.

Q. You never had a crêpe before?

NAOMI OSAKA: No, not a sweet one. But Patrick recommended butter and sugar, and that is what I did. It was amazing.

Q. Never had a crêpe before. It was kind of an easy competition for that crêpe, right?

NAOMI OSAKA: No.

Q. It was your first crêpe.

NAOMI OSAKA: Oh, yeah.

Q. So best crêpe of your life, like...

NAOMI OSAKA: You're right. You're right (smiling).

But I feel like, 'cause Patrick was also saying it was an amazing crêpe, so I feel like it was a really good crêpe.

Q. Five matches in a row. Are you feeling like you're a clay court specialist now?

NAOMI OSAKA: (Shaking head negatively.)

Q. What is your comfort level? How has it evolved? How has this sort of clay court season and working with Patrick different than ones before in terms of what he's bringing to you and what you're bringing to this clay court adventure?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I would say this clay court season's different because I'm coming into it with a lot more wins. Obviously I would say I'm a lot more comfortable on clay now, but that's also from my experience of last year, too.

I think I was really lucky to play some really good matches on clay last year. I had that in my mind when I'm playing in Saint-Malo and when I'm playing here. I think it's an accumulation of all of those.

Q. I can imagine some players, when they drop down a level for a week, it's kind of something that they struggle with like an ego thing. They have to get over that thing. Was that something that you struggled with? Was there anything in terms of what the tournaments provide off the court that you particularly missed last week on the challenger tour?

NAOMI OSAKA: You know what's funny is, like, I keep getting asked questions like this, but in different ways (smiling).

No, I mean, obviously I would have been really disappointed to lose in the first round. I guess I would think that people would say that if I didn't win the trophy... There's a lot of situations that could have occurred.

For me, I just wanted to focus on the tennis. I wanted to rack up experience on clay. I didn't really have too much of an ego playing that tournament.

I've always told people that I'm okay, like, playing on Court 16 if I have to anyways. The reason I came back wasn't to play on center courts all the time, it's because I really enjoy the game. I just want to see, like, what I can do.

Q. Anything that you might have missed?

NAOMI OSAKA: Sorry. Anything that I might have missed?

I don't really miss much. I'm also not very, like, focused on accommodation or whatever. As long as my team is with me and we're, like, having fun, for me that's a great time.

Q. In terms of what you said, being aware that people would say X, Y, Z, if you didn't win the trophy. You had that touch match against Diane Parry, down 4-1 in the third. Did you see 'Challengers' last year and did that film run through your head last week?

NAOMI OSAKA: No, I mean, I guess that match definitely I was really stressed out. It wasn't necessarily, like, thinking people were going to say whatever, whatever, if I lost. I was just more missing my daughter a lot.

I was thinking, like, I wonder if the time would have been spent better after Madrid going to see her really quickly as opposed to playing the tournament, which luckily I was able to snap out of that.

It's kind of funny. During tennis, sometimes you don't think about tennis at all.

In 'Challengers', yeah, I definitely watched that. I was thinking more about Agassi 'cause I remember reading his book. There was a moment where I don't know if he had to play a challenger, but he was saying he was flipping his own scoreboards. Someone came and yelled, like, Image is everything. I would say that section of the book crossed my mind more.

Q. You have to try a crêpe with Nutella.

NAOMI OSAKA: I don't like chocolate.

Q. You don't like chocolate at all?

NAOMI OSAKA: No. It's okay. I'm going to make someone else eat it.

Q. After Madrid you posted on social media that you weren't going to let the disappointment get to you. How did you come that that conclusion, if it worked, and how that might help you approach wins and losses in the future.

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I would say for me the only times I feel disappointed when I lose is when I know that I didn't give it my all or mentally I copped out or something like that. I knew I did that and Madrid, and that's why I felt very disappointed in myself.

I would say, like, from that moment I promised myself I was going to give 100% no matter what because there's no point in playing matches or practicing, it would be a waste of everyone's time.

Like, I have so many people, yeah, there's a lot of people with me. There's people with me that I value their time. I know that I want to make the most of it. Yeah, it's just that.

I'm a very big over-thinker. I try to think of every scenario like five different times.

Q. In the locker room, there is the seeded part and the other ones. Do you have a mom's part now in locker room where just you are moms? After the match, do you have a special speech with the other moms of the tour, with Azarenka, things like this? Do you speak just about children?

NAOMI OSAKA: Like, I don't know how to answer your question 'cause probably. But I also am not the one that speaks a lot. Like, I only talk if someone asks me a question. That's kind of how I operate. I have really bad social skills.

There probably is a mom group chat. I just don't talk a lot. I don't know. That's my answer to your question.

But also I find that I talk to more people now than I did before. So I'm hoping that my skills in that aspect level (indiscernible), as well.

Q. This is kind of a similar question to the one before. Yeah, after Madrid you posted about crashing out. In your mind, what has helped you when you are overthinking, going through different scenarios, what has helped you to not do that? In general, I think you said, I wouldn't wish what goes on in my mind on my worst enemy. What kind of things were running through your mind?

NAOMI OSAKA: I'm not going to use Threads anymore (laughter).

Yeah, I mean, I would say for me, I hate inconveniencing people. I don't really like to talk to people if I have problems. I'd rather just solve it by myself. In that aspect, like, obviously with Patrick we talk, but sometimes I don't tell him exactly what I'm thinking.

After Madrid, going into Saint-Malo, we had a conversation about me telling him exactly how I feel before going into matches. Even today I told him that I was nervous obviously because I want to do well here coming off of the win that I just had. So that definitely helped a lot.

Yeah, I think overall just being grateful for life, for I guess being healthy, has helped me out a lot. I think as a tennis player, as a tennis person, I care so much about winning that I don't see, like, the full picture sometimes.

Really glad that I got to go to Madrid and enjoy the city, even though I lost in the first round. I'm happy to be here, too.

Q. One more question about the clay. You played so well last year in the match against Iga in the French Open, even though it didn't go your way. Do you ever watch a tape of that match to see what you were doing well against the best clay court player in the world? When you are playing well on clay, what are you doing?

NAOMI OSAKA: You know, like, I hate looking at my tapes of my past self because I think I start to overthink it and wonder was I better back then, was I better before, a lot of things.

But obviously I have watched that match. For me, I feel like I didn't know this before, and I think I talked about it a little bit last year, but I feel like clay is very strength-reliant. I realized that going into the corners, just like pushing off, you need a lot of muscles to do that. I never realized that before.

It's something that I prioritized this year and I think it's working. Even playing my match today, I was able to, I guess, hit a lot of really good shots just based off like my muscles in my legs.

I'm going to keep, I guess, pushing forward that way. I'll let you know what happens in Roland Garros.

Thank you.