Naomi Osaka has revealed she was involved in a road accident just days before she started her French Open campaign. Osaka caught the eye in the build-up to the match, having walked out onto court donning an extravagant gown, before revealing a dazzling golden dress.
It was a stunt that raised eyebrows among the tennis world, with some, including Osaka’s first-round opponent, Laura Siegemund, throwing shade on the move. Osaka went on to win her second-round match against Donna Vekic, to reach the third round at Roland-Garros for the first time since 2019.
However, Osaka admitted during her post-match press conference following the Vekic victory that she’d been involved in an accident that saw a bus crush the car she was travelling in. The four-time Grand Slam champion explained: “Yes, we had a little accident two days ago.
“I realised that in dangerous situations, I don’t really panic. I just think very slowly: ‘Okay, this is happening.’ I wasn’t afraid for my life, but I did think: ‘Wow, this bus is really crushing our car.’ You could clearly hear the car breaking as it kept pushing us. The weirdest part was that the bus kept moving forward and forward. For a moment, I even thought it was going to flip our car completely.”
It doesn’t appear to have impacted her performances, with Osaka admitting she’s in a different mental place compared to this time last year. She added: “Mentally, I am very different even compared to last year. Last year, I used to get very stressed when the matches were tight. I would quite panic and struggle a lot to handle those moments.”
“Now I just try to play point by point. I am quite at peace with the idea of losing as long as I feel I gave absolutely everything and made the match as difficult as possible for my opponent. Today, when she broke my serve, I tried to stay calm and keep fighting.”
Osaka was also quizzed on what Serena Williams’ return to tennis would mean, with the Japanese ace replying: “Honestly, I don’t think too much about whether it’s good for tennis or not. I know it would be incredibly entertaining for me. Obviously, Serena always attracts a lot of people and a lot of attention wherever she plays. I will definitely watch her first match because Serena and Venus were my big role models when I was young. It would be very nice to see her back in a tournament…
“I think tennis has changed quite a bit from my early years on the circuit. Today, practically no one can solely play defensively. Against certain players, you need to be aggressive no matter what. For example, against someone like Sabalenka, it would be very difficult to win by just playing defensively. Now, all players need to know how to finish points.”