US OPEN

September 1, 2025

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/C. Gauff

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Naomi, you looked from the outside very comfortable, very confident. When was the last time you felt that good on court? And if I could add a quick second, very technical tennis question: What's the name of today's Labubu?

NAOMI OSAKA: So, honestly, I don't know if you watched the Montreal matches, but I actually felt really good against Svitolina when I played her. I think for me that match kind of made things clear that I can, like, rally a lot with everybody.

Then, wait, I have it in my pocket (laughing), which is actually a really bad way to be carrying this around. Yeah. Today's Labubu, her name is Althea Glitterson. Yeah (smiling).

Q. You mentioned the Montreal run, and one of the things that I remember from it is how you looked, your body language, in the final and that you looked like you weren't enjoying it too much in the second and third sets. Today in the first set in the third game when Gauff hit a couple of big serves, I noticed you broke into a smile, and that that happened a few times in the match. Is that something you consciously went into thinking, this is what I'm going to do, or is that just how you felt because you were out on that court again?

NAOMI OSAKA: No, honestly, I think, like, for me the main what I want to take away from this tournament is just smiling and having fun. I know in my first round I was too nervous to smile, and my match against Kasatkina was just really not smiley at all.

Going into this match, I just wanted to be grateful. Yeah, I mean, she's one of the best players in the world. For me, honestly, I have the most fun when I play against the best players. I love when they hit amazing shots or they hit aces, because you know, that's how they won the tournaments that they won.

I always see it as a challenge. Yeah, I like challenges.

Q. Naomi, is part of your happy warrior mode something that Tomasz Wiktorowski is encouraging you to do?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I think definitely. You know, he seemed like such a tough guy to me, but actually when he smiles, he really is like a teddy bear. When we talk after matches, he's not harsh at all. He's like always very proud and encouraging.

I feel like it kind of creates a safe space for me to, like, you know, be able to express myself and my tennis.

Q. You have this amazing record when you get beyond the fourth round of Grand Slams. I just wonder, does that add any pressure in any way, or does it give you confidence that you know when you've been here before you've done really well?

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly, I wouldn't say it gives me pressure or confidence. I think for me, you know, this is kind of unchartered territory at this point of my career.

I don't know. I'm just enjoying it. I'm having fun. I'm being able to play against the best players in the world. If you were to ask me what was the most exciting thing from today, I think it's that I don't need a wild card to enter tournaments anymore. I think I'll be seeded in, like, the Indian Wells, Miami type of tournaments, so that's what I'm happy about.

Q. You took the picture of us, and I don't know if we just look really good today.

NAOMI OSAKA: Always. (Laughter.)

Q. Talked about getting back on Ashe and playing other highly-ranked players and the atmosphere stuff really matters to you. Is it because it reminds you of when you were playing for trophies and Grand Slams and stuff, or can you just talk about the type of motivation it gives you, I guess?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, the type of motivation it gets me, I was a kid that was watching on TV just hoping to play this tournament. I would come here and, you know, wish to play on one of the cool outdoor courts. And to be on the main stadium here for me, no matter what point of my career I'm in, it's always an honor.

Just to be playing a match that you guys seem to have talked about a lot leading into it is also really fun. Yeah, I think this is like the moments that I play tennis for.

Q. On the court you mentioned the match against Liudmila Samsonova in Montreal as a real turning point for you. Prior to that over the past 12, maybe more months you had lost a lot of matches like that where you had played brilliantly and got into really tight positions. Obviously everybody remembers the Iga match at Roland Garros, but the Pavlyuchenkova match at Wimbledon. Had that started to feel like a pattern that you needed to break in order to get to where you are now?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, definitely. I think for me I was really frustrated for a long time because I felt like I was playing well, but there was just something that I don't know if I was missing or it was just, like, a mentality thing.

Then, yeah, I played Samsonova, and I didn't give up until the very last point. Obviously, I ended up winning that. I think from that moment on I just tried to be the biggest fighter that I can be.

Q. You mentioned Tomasz is like a teddy bear. What would you say tennis-wise is his philosophy that he's tried to impart for you and how he would like you to play tennis?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, honestly, I think with him the base for me is really good. He doesn't try to drastically change anything I do. I feel like with him it's more like the little things that I might forget or just patterns or, like, places to hit the ball that I've never thought of before.

It's not anything drastic at all.

Q. When results haven't been great, you've said at times you've felt like, I don't know how long I can keep doing this. You know, I'm used to being at a certain level. How close did you get to being like, I actually might give up, I don't know if this is going to happen?

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly, not close at all. I don't know if that means, like, I like pain or something (laughing), but no.

It's one thing to say it, but I think to actually do it, to hang up my racquet for me permanently would be a very scary thing. I've been playing this sport since I was 3. I tell people it's like breathing air to me. I wouldn't really know what to do.

Granted, I'm really grateful to be here now, and the thought of not playing any time soon is something that hasn't crossed my mind, so...

Q. Naomi, two years ago when you were here after giving birth watching Coco, looking back at that time, did you ever imagine you would back in this position within two years ever, you know, playing late in a major, beating the woman who won that night?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yes, but I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy or something, but I always feel like you have to imagine it, and then you have to believe it for it to actually come true.

But you're also speaking to the kid that, like, visualized playing Serena too. So I feel like there's a lot of power in dreaming and believing.

Q. Your thoughts on your next match against Muchova, who you played here last year, and I know you practiced with her recently here. What are your thoughts on that match? Also, just if you do feel like you play differently at all when you're in the second week of a major, if something about how you're on the court just feels special?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, I can't really speak too much on the second week of a major, because this is my first time back here. But you know, I feel really relaxed. I don't feel stressed at all.

I think for me I just wanted to have a better year than last year, and I already did that in Montreal. For me, whatever happens the rest of this tournament, the rest of Asia, I'm just trying to be a better tennis player and learn from every match that I play.

But I know my match against Muchova is going to be really tough for me. She's always been one of the most talented tennis players out there, and physically she moves really well, and she's very strong. So it's going to be a really tough challenge.

Q. Naomi, what do you consider the biggest improvements you've made in your game to get back to this stage?

NAOMI OSAKA: I think physically in my head I know that I'm capable of rallying a lot, so I don't overplay. I kind of am okay with just waiting. Granted, I'm not a defensive player, so it's not like I'm trying to move side-to-side, but it's more like the silent confidence of understanding that I don't need to hit a winner at all times.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese.)

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, it's funny. Honestly I talked to GuiGui, because I feel like I get to every ball. Like, there's rarely a drop shot I don't get to. I might do something stupid once I do get to the drop shot, but I get there. It was funny. We were talking. I don't really run or anything. Like, we do a lot of -- I'm not going to tell you what we do, but we do a lot of different things that are very new to me. But yeah, I mean, it's been working out, so...

Yeah, I mean, I think I played well. Honestly, besides playing well, I think I played smart. I feel like Tomasz gave me a game plan, and I executed it pretty well. All credit to him. Yeah, it was just very clear for me what I had to do from the beginning. If I stepped outside of those lines, it was very easy to go back in them.

Yeah, I mean, I think for me every match is very different, and obviously the more matches you play at a slam especially, you kind of just learn more and you feel more comfortable. For me today, I don't know, I definitely feel like I played better than the last match I played, but it's going to be interesting to see what happens the more matches I get under my belt.

Yeah, I think for me, you know, I know Coco is probably the fastest, if not one of the fastest, players on tour. I also think that says a lot for me to be completely fine with playing long rallies with her and just knowing that I'm okay not going for anything until I get my, like, perfect opportunity. So, honestly, that was a part of my plan was just not to, like, freak out when she gets a lot of balls back and just keep building the point.