Naomi Osaka conceded she discovered enjoying exterior her consolation zone on clay irritating because the world quantity two continues her warm-up for the French Open on the WTA match in Rome. Osaka has by no means gained a tour-level occasion on the purple dust whereas on the French Open, which begins on May 30, she is but to make it previous the third spherical. The Japanese four-time Grand Slam champion was dumped out of the Madrid Open within the second spherical final week, having taken virtually a month off following her quarter-final exit in Miami. “I’m unsure if I needs to be telling you this, however I’m simply not that snug on it (clay) nonetheless, and I’m unsure if it’s as a result of I must play longer on it or if I simply haven’t grown up on it,” Osaka told a press conference in Rome on Sunday.
Osaka has played just two matches on clay since the 2019 French Open having skipped last year’s Grand Slam because of injury.
“Mentally it’s a bit harder because you have to structure the points differently,” she continued.
“There are unhealthy bounces and stuff. I get fairly annoyed. So, yeah, mentally I feel it’s a bit extra taxing.
“But I feel as quickly as I get that kind of block out of my thoughts, then I’ll be extra open to the errors.
“Right now, I’m taking the whole lot as a studying course of, and I’m making an attempt to not be so onerous on myself.”
Osaka is in the same half of the draw as four-time Rome winner Serena Williams, who hasn’t played since losing to Osaka in the Australian Open semi-final, and defending champion Simona Halep of Romania.
Before then she opens in the second round against either Russia’s 37th-ranked Daria Kasatkina or American Jessica Pegula, the world number 33.
“Honestly, I feel like that’s the reason why I’m here for match prep,” mentioned Osaka, whose greatest displaying on the match was a quarter-final run in 2019.
And she welcomed the additional week of warm-up earlier than Roland Garros, even when it means much less time at residence earlier than the Tokyo Olympics.
“In the start I used to be a bit unhappy as a result of it means extra time away from residence.
“But on the similar time I really feel like I want the additional time on clay, particularly with my previous outcomes. Hopefully I do higher right here.
“But I’m probably not mad at, I assume, grinding on clay and practising right here for a pair extra weeks.”
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