Naomi Osaka admitted a few days ago that she's not feeling as confident anymore after suffering some bad losses, but apparently, now she's feeling confident ahead of the Qatar Open.
This Japanese player's comeback has been quite fascinating for several reasons. First of all, she's been all over the place with her thoughts. Before the Australian Open, Osaka thought she could win it.
After the event and some bad losses, Osaka recently admitted that she's lost self-confidence. A few days later, Osaka claimed in a press conference ahead of the Qatar Open that she was feeling confident because she saw 'the worst that could happen'.
That's a lot of thoughts that contradict each other, which, in fairness, she did admit. Obviously, it's a new situation for the four-time Grand Slam winner, too, as she's trying to find her level, something she didn't have to do a lot before.
"Yeah, I mean, it definitely is hard for me to not be tough on myself, but I think honestly after Abu Dhabi, I actually have more confidence in myself now, which is a little strange, but I think that, for me, was the worst thing that could happen. I feel like since I have seen the worst that can happen, I think, like, everything else is a plus."
The way she phrased it does make sense. She's playing matches and losing them but that's all that can happen. The worst thing that can happen is losing a match, which, in the grand scheme of things, is not a huge issue.
The goal is to get good again, and there is only one way to really do that - play matches. She's optimistic that with enough matches, she'll turn the corner.
"In Australia I know that I said I was only going to play Dubai, so I feel like I have to take these tournaments as extra credit. Someone said to me it's like a very expensive practice, so I don't know, after they said that, I felt pretty optimistic (smiling)."
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