In the shadow of the career of Iga Swiatek, who on April 4 will crown the world number 1 crown (one for her, as for Poland in tennis), Naomi Osaka (who took advantage of an invitation from the organizers to settle on the starting line) flourishes in Miami.
The Japanese passes the laps without incident.
After Australian Astra Sharma and German Angelique Kerber, she took advantage of Czech Karolina Muchova's withdrawal, before eliminating American Alison Riske.
She is in the quarter-finals (against the American Danielle Collins, seeded n°9, finalist of the last Australian Open) without having missed a single set.
And for the first time in a year, the former world No. 1 (24 years old; 77th in the world) sits in the quarter-finals of a major tournament.
After her victory in the second round against Kerber, she had let go: “
It means a lot to me.
She's the first highly skilled player I've beaten this year.
The last time Osaka beat a top-15 ranked player was when she knocked out then No.10 Serena Williams in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2021.
And display a long-forgotten pleasure.
"
It's really funny for me because last year I came to the quarters (from Miami) too, but that was after I won the Australian Open and I didn't feel good, I kind of expected to win.
I am not in the same position this year.
This time I'm having one of the funniest times of my life
,” Osaka said, in remarks reported by Reuters.
In the grip of painful anxiety problems brought to light last spring with the affair of the press conferences at Roland-Garros (before the tears during the Tokyo Olympics where she appeared as a symbol as the last torchbearer of the flame), the Japanese had mentioned her fragility, evoked “
different stages of depression
” since the US Open 2018 and the difficulties in “
managing (s) we anxiety in public.
»
Miami is part of a stage of reconquest and plenitude, trying to chase away bad memories.
Heckled in Indian Wells by a spectator who had thrown "
You suck
" at her during her second round loss against the Russian Veronika Kudermetova, Naomi Osaka had, after drying her tears, indicated that she had "
started working with a therapist
" and told “
She told me about strategies, breathing deeply, resetting the counters when necessary... I'm starting to realize how much all of this can help me.
I'm happy to have around me people who encouraged me to go in this direction.
»
Before finding, for a place in the last four in Miami, Danielle Collins whom she beat during their two meetings on the circuit, Naomi Osaka summarized: “
Honestly, I don't think too much about the past.
I know she's playing incredibly well right now and for me a player evolves over time so it's definitely going to be a very different game.
»
The quarter-finals: Bencic (Sui, 22)-Saville (Aus);
Osaka (Jap)-Collins (USA, 9);
Badosa (Spain)-Pegula (USA, 6);
Kvitova (Rtc, 28)-Swiatek (Pol, 2).
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