Naomi Osaka didn't have the best draw at the 2024 Roland Garros, getting Iga Swiatek fairly early, and she wasn't particularly thrilled with it.
Osaka is not one of those players that concerns herself too much with the draw. She doesn't really analyze in depth but rather just looks at the next match. That created a pretty hilarious scene when she was fully unaware that she was going to face world no. 1 in the second round of the 2024 Roland Garros.
Osaka started well by beating Lucia Bronzetti in a tight three-set match, in which she looked quite in trouble late in the third set. She was the better player but lost her confidence by the end of the match.
That's not ideal because she will likely have to have all of the confidence in the world in the second round, as Swiatek will be very confident about her abilities to win that match.
Speaking after her win over Bronzetti, the Japanese player revealed how she found out that she was playing Swiatek because she was fully unaware of that.
"Honestly, I didn't really know, but then after, I was, like, why does everyone keep asking me about this draw? Then I knew that I was in the top half, so jokingly, I was, like, ‘Well, it's not like I'm playing Iga.’ Then everyone got quiet. So I was like, ‘Oh.’ "
It is indeed an 'oh' moment because ideally, she would have wanted to avoid the Polish player in Paris altogether, or at least until the quarter-final. Still, Oaka will simply take it as an honor and challenge to play her.
"But yeah, the next round is the only round I know, so that's all I'm going to focus on. I'm honestly really excited. I watched her a lot when I was pregnant. And honestly, I think it's an honor to play her in the French Open, because she's won more than once here, for sure. It’s a very big honor and challenge for me."
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