US OPEN

August 28, 2025

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/H. Baptiste

6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Welcome. Your thoughts on the match.

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I think it was obviously really different from the last time I played her, but I just tried to focus and be as positive as I could.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I wanted to ask first about your growing family of Labubus, how they came to be and how they are so bedazzled, if you're a general collector. And then also about Hailey and her development. Very different questions.

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, honestly I'm not a Labubu collector. This is kind of like a one-time thing for the tournament. Honestly, it kind of started as a joke, so I'm glad people are liking it.

Yeah, about Hailey, I think she's an incredible player. She's someone that's very dangerous. For me, a player that can kind of hit any ball from any part of the court. That's kind of why I told myself I had to focus really hard today.

Yeah, I mean, obviously I'm sure she's a little disappointed about this is the US Open and she's American, but I'm sure she's going to have a lot more really good runs.

Q. Just in terms of that focus that you had today, how do you sort of conjure that? Is it something you could have every single match possibly or just something you sort of have to have a certain kind of inspiration to channel that sort of complete match focus like you had today?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I would say a little bit of inspiration. And also practice. I think obviously I played well in Montreal, and I would like to think that I had focus there. So I would hope that the longer the tournament goes on, the easier it is for me to maintain a level of focus.

Q. You just mentioned Montreal. Do you feel right now like you're playing to the level where you can go deep in this tournament?

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly, I don't really know. I don't make it my business to know anymore. I kind of just leave it up in the air. For me, I realize that I've done everything that I could. I've trained really hard. I practiced really hard. If it happens, it happens.

But, yeah, I'm just kind of playing match by match.

Q. In your on-court interview, I think you were referencing your coach and this sort of dynamic you have. Obviously it's a new relationship. I just wonder, what are you finding interesting about working with him as a new coach?

NAOMI OSAKA: I can give you something that's not tennis-related about him, but the first couple -- well, honestly, when I didn't know him, I thought he was very scary. Because he's very tall and he didn't smile.

Now that we're working together, I see that he smiles often. He has a very friendly smile, and it's very nice. That's my little fun fact about Tomasz.

Q. I did want to get your opinion on the net cord etiquette. Obviously it's been a big topic the last 24 hours. I'm curious your thoughts on how players are supposed to interact with each other after something like that happens and kind of see where you stand on the issue.

NAOMI OSAKA: What issue?

Q. I don't know if you saw yesterday with Taylor Townsend's match. Her and her opponent got into a little bit of a back-and-forth. Part of it had to do with her not apologizing after the net cord. I'm curious if you think that's something tennis players usually do now. If it's not something you consider something you would need to apologize for. Just trying to see where your head's at on something like that.

NAOMI OSAKA: Honestly, I probably don't care either way. And I definitely wouldn't care to the point where it would affect me that much that I get very angry.

I think it's up to the person whether they apologize or not, but if it's really close, then I can see why they don't apologize.

Q. Following up on that, when a player gets so angry that they would use words like "no education" and "no class" to criticize a Black player, those kind of words have a bad history in this country and kind of unfair, how do you react to something like that when you hear that?

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I saw that part obviously. It's been on the TV, like, every 15 minutes.

I mean, it's really difficult to say. I think obviously it's one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority White sport. And granted, I know Taylor and I know how hard she's worked and I know how smart she is, so she's the furthest thing from uneducated or anything like that.

But if you're like genuinely asking me about the history of Ostapenko, I don't think that's the craziest thing she's said. I'm going to be honest. (Smiling.)

I think it's ill timing and the worst person you could have ever said it to. And I don't know if she knows the history of it in America.

But I know she's never going to say that ever again in her life. But, yeah, I mean, it was just terrible. Like, that's just really bad.

Q. You played with a lot more variety today, the lobs, the spins, and you mentioned the focus. Was it because of how much focus you had, or was it like I know Hailey has the same play style, so I have to come with a lot more tactics?

NAOMI OSAKA: No, honestly I was just worried about what Hailey was going to do. I had to be locked in from the first point.

Yeah, I did try to change up a little bit from how I played in Miami. I think I was a lot more defensive and kind of playing the same style of ball. I think that allowed her to kind of get the rhythm. So I definitely tried to change it up a lot more today.

(Naomi's answers to questions in Japanese.)

NAOMI OSAKA: Yeah, I mean, I would definitely say that Tomasz has talked to me a lot about the placement of my shots and not necessarily going for winners most of the time.

But I know today it was a little tough for me in the first set, because I didn't necessarily swing as much as I thought I should have, and I worked on it in the second set.

But I would say with the placement and also my returns, those are the things I'm most happy about.

Can you translate for me?

Q. Compared to the previous match, do you feel you made some progress or...

NAOMI OSAKA: I would say I made progress in my attitude, which is the one thing that I really wanted to work on. I think Tuesday I was getting really down on myself in certain moments, and I kind of was, like, this (demonstrating). And then today I just really tried to be positive even if she hit a crazy winner or even if she did something incredible, and I tried to be very stable, so...

Yeah, I mean, definitely I went into this match expecting a match like Miami, so honestly, I was a little surprised. I do realize that I have a lot of matches under my belt now, which I'm really happy about. I think for me, honestly, my game plan against her changed a lot versus what it was in Miami. So going forward, I'll probably just kind of stick to that whenever I play her and see what happens.

Yeah, I am quite confident in myself now, so I think that also is working for me.

Yeah, I mean, definitely she's really good at slicing, dropshotting and coming to the net. And I was aware of that. So I didn't want to give her any short balls, because honestly, she could run around and hit a really good forehand winner or she could just come to the net.

I know I missed a lot -- well, not a lot. I missed some passing shots. I made the ones that mattered. I think for me, it was just really important to keep her as back as I could, so I think I did that well.