'Makes me sad': Naomi Osaka's brutal career admission
Naomi Osaka has revealed she often gets homesick and said this is partly the reason she doesn't play as often as other tennis stars on the WTA Tour.
Osaka, looking to take over the World No.1 ranking from Ash Barty at the Miami Open, was addressing questions regarding her tennis schedule following the hardcourt swing.
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The schedule is ramping up in the US before the French Open where players will attempt to play a handful of clay court tournaments.
But the Australian Open champion revealed she doesn't know what a 'normal' tennis schedule is and said she never saw herself as one of those players because she gets 'homesick'.
"Well for me, I'm not really sure what a normal schedule is but I've never thought of myself as the player that would play week-in and week-out," Osaka said at a press conference.
"I personally get homesick quite often and it makes me kinda sad some times. I would like to travel somewhere and focus on that tournament."
Osaka signals change for clay court season
Osaka admitted that she is looking to play more selective tournaments to help her schedule.
But the World No.2 said she will look to make a change this year in order to improve her performance on clay.
Clay has often been Osaka's toughest surface.
“Hopefully it will work for me this time in Europe because my results there haven’t been that great, but I feel like every year I am on tour I learn more about myself and what type of schedule I like to play," she added.
Osaka will be looking to take the World No.1 ranking of Barty at the Miami Open.
A State of Emergency declared in Miami due to the coronavirus pandemic, which vindicated stars such as Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer withdrawing.
But Osaka is only defending 65 points after struggling in previous tournaments.
Barty must defend her 1000 points as the Miami Open 2019 winner.
Osaka only has 65 points to defend, so if Osaka is to win the tournament she will boost her points from 7,835 to 8,770.
If Barty reaches the final, along with Osaka, she will retain her No.1 ranking.
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