Naomi Osaka is an unusual breed of champion – and that’s okay

Four-time Grand Slam winner doesn’t see defeats as world-ending events, nor should she, writes Alex Pattle

Reigning US Open and Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka (Getty Images)

“I feel like even if you’re not playing great you should still find ways to win. I’m trying to find ways to do that,” Naomi Osaka said after her 23-match winning streak came to an end in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on Wednesday.

“Hopefully, I don’t lose like this a couple more times, but I think the more times that stuff like this happens, the more I’ll learn from it.”

Osaka, whose comprehensive 6-0 6-4 defeat by Maria Sakkari saw her fall a few matches short of potentially regaining her world No 1 ranking, added in her post-match press conference: “I do think like the last time I was in this seat I wasn’t really thinking at all about rankings, but someone asked me that question, so then I did start to ponder about it a lot.

“So maybe unwillingly that put pressure on myself. But I feel like even if it did, I should be able to rise above that.” 

Those words might seem somewhat unusual – or even uninspiring – coming from a four-time Grand Slam champion, who is currently the best women’s player in the world despite her No 2 WTA ranking and one of the best tennis players in the world, full stop.

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In recent years, the mindset of champions and elite athletes across all sports has been the subject of great interest and study. The insight gleaned from such exploration has covered intense auras, motivational speeches and unforgiving approaches that might seem to border on self-punishment at times.

So, to hear Osaka offer a more relaxed assessment of her most recent loss will surprise certain sports fans somewhat. It might even lead them to question the 23-year-old’s mentality.

They would not be the first to do so.

On court, reigning US Open and Australian Open champion Osaka can at times look like she has beaten herself before her opponent even gets a chance to.

Yet the Japanese has still achieved the sort of success in her sport that so many could only ever dream of – a horrible cliche, yet one with veracity here. Ironically, Osaka is rather a stranger to cliches, one could argue, given their absence from her post-match speeches and general rhetoric.

Osaka reacts to her defeat by Maria Sakkari (Getty Images)

In any case, Osaka won her first Slam at the age of 20 and, a few months later, became world No 1 at 21 years old. She is the face of her generation of women’s players, positioned between Serena Williams and expected successor Coco Gauff – both of whom fit the more typical mould of elite modern competitors.

Osaka’s apparent self-doubt, which seems to wax and wane across the seasons, has not prevented her from achieving startling accomplishments – at a young age, no less – with many more likely in her future.

So, perhaps it is not worth debating what Osaka could be if only she were to adopt a more aggressive mindset.

Maybe it is simply worth enjoying what she contributes to the game, and appreciating the fact that – with her occasional insecurities and distaste for pressure – she is a true rarity in modern sport: a relatable champion.