Japan's former world queen Naomi Osaka is getting used to the clay court more and more, and she defeated Russia's No. 11 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-3 in the women's singles round of 32 in Rome on the 12th. Naomi Osaka said after the match that the victory was inspired by the two seniors.
Naomi Osaka won the women's singles round of 16 ticket
Naomi Osaka, who has won all four Grand Slams in her career on hard courts, had never beaten a Top 20 player on clay before coming to Rome, but she defeated world No. 20 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the second round and then swept world No. 11 Kasatkina to win the Women's Singles round of 16 and win three straight matches since Miami 2022.
Clay has always been a test for Naomi Osaka, and when asked after the match if she was referring to how American diva Serena Williams plays on clay, she also mentioned Maria Sharapova's name.
Zheng Qinwen vs. Naomi Osaka, the official winning rate is five to five!
Naomi Osaka pointed out that the corridors of the Rome tennis tournament were lined with photos of past champions, and she was inspired by the idea that strong players can also excel on clay. Serena Williams has won four times here, while Sharapova is a three-time champion.
As for whether he will watch Serena Williams' videos for inspiration, Osaka said that when he was a child, he often watched videos of the two, but after Serena Williams retired, he rarely watched them because he was too sad, "Now I see that Rafa (Nadal) is also in his final year, and I am even sadder." ”
Naomi Osaka and China's first sister Zheng Qinwen have fought once before
However, Naomi Osaka believes that the media has made a good point and may refer to Serena Williams' past matches on clay. On the 13th, Beijing time, Naomi Osaka will compete with China's first sister Zheng Qinwen for a ticket to the top 8 of women's singles. The outcome of this game is indeed unpredictable, and even the official winning rate is the result of a five-to-five opening, with Naomi Osaka slightly higher at 50.1%.