Naomi Osaka admitted she survived the worst attack of nerves of her life as she fought back from the brink of defeat to avoid an opening-round exit in her first Grand Slam as the world No 1.
The 21-year-old Japanese superstar was two points from defeat on seven occasions but she eventually prevailed 0-6, 7-6, 6-1 against world No 90 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Several times on court Osaka appeared to be overcome by emotion, slumping on to her haunches or burying her face in a towel at changeovers.
“I think this is the most nervous I have ever been my entire life during a match,” said Osaka with typical candour. “I think you could see that in the first set. I was literally not hitting any balls in the court. Today was weird because usually the nerves go away but they kind of stayed the entire match. Then I just felt like it was a fight of willpower.”
“The thoughts that were crossing my mind were: could I live — well, of course, I can live with myself - but can I sleep at night knowing that I maybe could have done something more.”
Osaka has won the last two Grand Slams while Schmeidlova has lost in the first round of her last nine, so there were eyebrows raised when the Russian won the first set without dropping a game. That she somehow did so without hitting a single winner tells you something about how wayward Osaka’s performance was.
She hit 38 unforced errors in total, struggling to control her groundstrokes in the swirling wind. Asked to try to explain her nerves, Osaka said: “I mean, I can give you logical reasons, but I’m not really a logical person. Logical reasons: first time playing a Grand Slam as No 1. Won the last two, so I kind of want to win this one really bad.”
“I have never played on Chatrier before. This was my first time. And, yeah, I kind of feel like I’m having the thought of wanting to prove myself again.”
The 24-year-old Schmiedlova served for the match twice at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set and both time the nerves seemed to set in and her level dropped. Osaka survived by the skin of her teeth and played much better in the tiebreak and third set. She will have to substantially up her level in the next round against fellow two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka, who is playing her best tennis since giving birth in December 2016.
Schmiedlova said: “I think everybody saw that I was really close. And it did hurt that I lose today because, well, I have so many chances. She’s No 1 in the world and amazing player. I admire her so much.”
