Naomi Osaka played and won her first match on clay in 2026 yesterday, and it was an emphatic victory too.
This is a surface that has, at times, troubled the Japanese superstar. In fact, she has never made it past the third round at Roland Garros before in her entire career.
However, when facing Camila Osorio in Madrid yesterday, the untrained eye would have never guessed.
She looked supremely confident on the dirt, beating a player whose only three WTA-level titles came on this surface.
Speaking on Tennis Channel, both Sam Querrey and CoCo Vandeweghe were optimistic about Naomi Osaka’s prospects going forward after claiming such a solid win.
Naomi Osaka’s first clay-court win of the season praised
Querrey began by reacting to that aforementioned statistic about Osorio, admitting: “It says a lot.”
He continued: “Look, Osaka’s ranked 15 [in the world] right now. I think, you know, going back two years ago, we were kind of unsure where she was going to be, and she’s done a good job of kind of righting the ship, getting back to the point where she’s kind of becoming a contender at some of these big events now.
What could stop Naomi Osaka from winning a Grand Slam title in 2026?
Credit: Sofascore
“I know Sabalenka and Rybakina are kind of separating themselves a little bit, but she’s definitely in that next tier back that can make some waves of these big Master Series and Majors.”
Vandeweghe then chimed in with a couple of areas that Osaka needs to ensure remain at the exceedingly high level we have come to expect from her if she is to remain competitive, no matter the surface.
She added: “And then the two things you look at with Naomi Osaka’s game, no matter what surface we’re on, is, where’s her movement at and also how is she defending her second serve?
“Because of the ability to hold serve as easily as she does when she is making first serves, that puts so much pressure on every return game that she’s in because she can break anyone at will with her shot-making ability.
“Then it goes to her movement of how long is she withstanding these rallies, how well is she getting to these balls and being in position, being stable, to be able to play that first strike type of tennis and be able to change defence to offence.”
Osaka has threatened to retire early on a number of occasions now, so it’s refreshing to see her enjoying herself on this unfamiliar surface.
How has Naomi Osaka performed in 2026 so far?
2026 has not been Osaka’s best season, unfortunately for her. However, that has been through no fault of her own.
With a handful of physical setbacks preventing her from gathering any real momentum, this ongoing Madrid Open campaign represents just the fourth tournament she has played this year.
The 28-year-old kick-started her season at the Australian Open, but was forced to withdraw right before her third-round match against a favourable opponent, Maddison Inglis, citing an abdominal injury.
| Event | Round reached | Defeated by |
| Australian Open | Third Round | Withdrew |
| Indian Wells | Round of 16 | Aryna Sabalenka |
| Miami Open | Round of 64 | Talia Gibson |
| Madrid Open | Second Round* | N/A |
She then took over a month off before returning at Indian Wells and losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the Round of 16.
Osaka stumbled from California to Miami and suffered a shock first-round exit, compiling a miserable few months for the four-time major champion.
The hope is that she can get her season back on track here in Madrid, despite her historical struggles on clay, and reignite her year.
