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Naomi Osaka at Australian Open
Australian Open, Tennis News, WTA Tennis Players

Naomi Osaka breezes into Australian Open second round before admitting: ‘I was nervous’


Naomi Osaka admitted she was ‘nervous’ ahead of her Australian Open first round match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, although you’d have never have known it.

Osaka, the number three seed, was in utterly dominant form against the Russian, powering to a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 win.

“I was really nervous coming into this match,” Osaka said on court after the match.

“I know that I’ve played her before and it was really tough. I just wanted to play well.”

“I feel like everyone’s body has been shocked, coming [to Australia] and playing matches.”

“(I’m) really happy to see people in the stands. It’s been a bit lonely in New York.”

“In New York it was definitely a bit strange, but it was also really nice because in the finals all of the volunteers were in the stands and they finally got a chance to get good seats instead of just peering through the cracks.”

Many thought Pavlyuchenkova ay provide a real banana-skin for Naomi Osaka, but she said she was always pleased with her draw.

“I saw the projected draw and actually, I’m kind of excited,” Osaka said.

“I like playing tough people, especially in Slams.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.