Naomi Osaka Press Conference | 2024 US Open Round 1

congratulations thank you impressive win barely over an hour straight sets your thoughts on your performance today um I mean for me I I felt um I don't know like I I really respect her as a player so I I kind of knew that I had to play really well from the very very first point so um I just tried to do that yeah okay good enough congratulations uh we have a big room name and affiliation one question each I get to as many as I can okay question C you with the K name affiliation please Johnson rolling out C with the kobby Jersey on you were also at mixed Madness wanted to know what you remember about him coming here to see you play uh five years ago um I mean I guess um um I kind of played on the same court today um Louis Armstrong was the court that um he came and watched my match and I honestly remember being a little bit in disbelief that um he was coming specifically to watch my match and um just to feel that support was Unreal and I think for me um I always wear Kobe jerseys after matches and practices because I feel like a little bit like I can kind of keep his spirit with me I'm later right here one question thank you um Lucy from black Global um congratulations today um I know as many of your best matches this year since you've been back um have been against let's say top players whether they Grand Slam champions um seated players do you feel more motivated during those matches or does that naturally come to you um I mean I would definitely say I'm not sure if it's motivation or if I feel like I have no other choice but to play well and then it gets rid of all the expectations and all the pressure I put on myself um because I know like no matter what the tennis is going to be really great tennis even if I win or lose so um that's kind of my mindset whenever I play like seated players or really good players David David K tennis.com I have another fashion question for you we saw a preview of the night outfit for the tournament we got to see the day today I'm just curious if you could speak to the inspiration specifically when the headphones I'm told it's a Harajuku inspiration yeah it is um I've well Yun is so nice she was um she accepted doing this project and we've kind of been like talking about it for a few years now so just to be able to like wear it and see it come to life and see that people are excited to see it um yeah it's really cool but it's yeah based on Japanese and hard culture Eva um Ava while Washington Post Nami I also wanted to ask you about the fit but color when did you CH cuz that's been the color of the summer so I want to know when you when that was decided but also as you've kind of been speaking about feeling more like yourself on Court and obviously you mentioned the out of body thing does being able to have a hand in in the fashion aspect of it help you with that all is there any connection there um well I chose the color like at least a year ago so um yeah yeah um but yeah I mean I definitely love to be involved in everything that I do whether it's fashion or anything else but um I feel like being able to be a part of my tennis outfits gives me I would say a different strength especially the US Open outfits I feel like they're a little bit more flamboyant and um when I was putting on my outfit today I was like ah I hope this isn't too much um cuz like I had the tutu and then I had the bow jacket and it was green and I feel like everyone was staring at me funny um and then I put the headphones on that was the real killer but um yeah but then I was like you know what Embrace this Maxim maximalist style um and then it made me feel better like another player came up to me and asked to take a picture so I hope it was like you know positive picture it wasn't like wasn't like oh my God look at her um but yeah I I think for me when I put on the outfit I it's almost like a super suit so I try to channel that gentleman in the middle yeah I know Victor for the keep have you ever been so emotional after Victory what does represent this specific Victory um you know I would say yes and it was probably on the same exact court so maybe it's that court that does something to me um the first US Open that I won I played sabalenka in the round of 16 I remember I cried really hard after that because I was having my like barrier of I couldn't get to the like round of 16 or the quarters or I think it was the round of 16 though but yeah um it's funny though I I feel like [Music] I'm I cried a lot more now than I did like winning slam so that's a little funny but yeah Court I mean in terms of all the work that you've had to do you know the last eight months to get you a performance like that on this stage at this tournament that you were targeting when you think back on all that it's I'm sure it's tons of stuff that we don't even know that you kind of had to fight through and work on what stands out to you in terms of what was the key over all these past months of building up to be able to play a match like you did today um I mean I think definitely experience I'm really glad that I played all of the tournaments this year um even even though the results haven't been that great I feel like I could draw from each of those matches and um over time I know even though I lost in the qualities of ciny um I I kind of gained confidence in my way in in myself in a weird way because for me that was like the worst possible outcome of my career um granted I could have lost in the round before that so um but yeah I just I don't know it's been so much hard work so much um like dreams and wishes and um I hope that I can continue but as of right now I am really happy with how I played willly focusing on that what is the feeling that you get from being at this level and how would you compare it to any match you've played since you've returned that's an interesting one just because I feel like for me this court is my home like it gives me so much more confidence like I step on the court knowing that I probably have the most wins in the field maybe I don't know like uh please don't I don't know um but like you know like having two wins here means a lot and I think for me I've been struggling with confidence throughout the year and this this time now forces me to like look in the mirror and say like hey like you've done really well here there's no reason why you can't do well again and um I I just tried to channel that today gentleman right here Char from the athletic I just wondered you asked there about the emotions after and whether it was your most emotional one but just what exactly was it that was kind of that you were thinking about or was there something that kind of tipped you over the edge to the tast um yeah I mean honestly it's like a combination of a lot of different things I I grew up here so you know just seeing kids like and then remembering my daughter but seeing kids coming watching me play and just remembering that I was a kid I guess a long time ago um made me very emotional and then also just remembering that I came and watched Coco play her semis and I was in the audience and I didn't know if I was going to be able to play again at this level and just to play AAP Peno who's such a great player and win that match means a lot to me and then um yeah just seeing the Stadium really full it it meant a lot because I was like oh I hope people come watch me play so two more in English tman and then Barbara any only congrats um you mentioned that you you've been struggling for confidence this year just curious where where did I guess that come from and what that struggle been like and and also just separately do you remember there's like a picture going around of you and Mari watching Rafa like years ago do you remember like yeah um honestly the US Open time was like the best moments for me as a kid because it's like the moments where the people you watch on TV you can see them in real life so um yeah I just remember going into the Nissan Quest that we had and like sliding the door and like being so pumped to like get to see all my favorite tennis players but I don't remember the picture being taken um but I remember like watching them practice and okay um I would say confidence honestly I went into Australia with a lot of confidence because it's a hard court um and uh you know like it didn't go my way there and obviously I I don't know CLA grass that well so it kind of shook me up a lot and um I wish I could have done better in Toronto and ciny and now I feel like I'm just here it's almost the end of well it is the end of the year but I told myself like I would make like my last stand um if I could in the US Open and the Asian swing so um yeah it's almost like you have a deadline and you're crunching at midnight to try to make it Barbara last question English Naomi um I just wondered you know you talked about how it's sort of like your superpower or you know wearing a fashion statement does that just having a fashion statement like that and any people look at you and it's kind of cool does that help you make like a statement on the court I mean I mean drawing that attention and does it give you kind of confidence or not or they're not related at all I mean today it didn't just because I was so focused on my match but I do like I do remember thinking like I need to win this match so I can wear my other color um um that was very important to me so yeah I guess you'll see my other color next time thank you everyone that concludes English you Japanese um yeah I mean going into the match I I realized after Cincinnati that I'm not I'm honestly not classifying myself as an aggressive player um I love to play the game and I love to like you know rally and then go for my opportunity when I have it so I think I I try to apply that to well that's a lie I am an aggressive player but I'm not like stepping on the Baseline trying to whack the ball every time um so yeah I think today I knew that she was definitely one of the best aggressive players in the world but um I didn't want [Music] to give her all the room to do that um so I just tried to force her to make unforced stairs with my weight and my speed of ball oh um well it's kind of like my journal that I have um I write in it before matches and um I right like points that I want to hit or um things that I definitely want to do or just mindset goals so it was we use a new word in the team standards so I have new standards for myself yeah I mean I I definitely felt like I moved really well and I think um when I posted that on social media I probably could have worded it better like I feel like I am fit but I just need a lot more time on the court and from Cincinnati to here I've been practicing so much and I've spent so much time in the gym so um I definitely feel fast and like being able to hit the balls and get to the balls that I want to cool thank you thank you thank you