Naomi Osaka is playing for resurgence by doing some spring cleaning.
The 78th-ranked Osaka said she's discarding the double digits next to her name and focusing on quality of play. Osaka streaked through six straight games rallying from a set down to defeat Sloane Stephens for the first time 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in a blockbuster Indian Wells clash of Grand Slam champions.
More: Osaka Subdues Stephens
A first-round match of major champions occurred because of Osaka's drop in the rankings as she cut her 2021 season short in part to focus on mental wellness.
Former world No. 1 Osaka said her fall from the Top 75 has been a bit of a reality check.
"It’s taken me for a loop, but I think I really needed to be where I am right now," Osaka told the media in Indian Wells after her opening-round win. "Ever since I won here last time I was just trying to be in the Top 10, Top 5, No. 1—there was always like a goal—but I never really took a break after that to just sort of want to be a better player or a better person, stuff like that."
While her diminished ranking presents more demanding draws—had Osaka beaten Amanda Anisimova in the Australian Open third round she would have faced world No. 1 Ash Barty in the round of 16—the two-time US Open champion believes she can do damage during the Sunshine Double.
Recall Osaka has been overwhelming in obscurity before. Osaka was ranked No. 44 when she won her maiden WTA title at the 2018 Indian Wells.
These days, she believes her lower ranking me well prove more unsettling opponents than unnerving for her.
"But I also think like right now I think the other players are more worried about my ranking than I am if that makes sense," Osaka said. "Because I’m like comfortable with whoever I play. And I won’t be bold enough to say I think the ranked players are scared for me to be positioned near them because I’m no longer ranked, but I think that is a feeling that may come up."
The challenge for Osaka is creating the ideal calendar that will keep her mentally and physically fresh yet still provide enough match play to keep her game sharp and her ranking elevated.
Osaka concedes her current approach to scheduling can be counter-productive forcing her to feel added pressure to excel in the fewer events she plays.
"Honestly I feel like the tennis season is a bit too long, but that’s just my personal opinion," Osaka said. "I feel like I’m the type of person—this is also the bad thing about me—I want to play the least amount of tournaments as possible but in order to do that I have to do well in every tournament so I create kind of this pressure internally.
"Always just like whatever tournament I enter I feel like I need to win or go to the quarters at least. But I can easily fix that by playing more tournaments. I’m doing it to myself. I don’t even know like what is the regular calendar amount of tournaments so I wouldn’t be able to give you the specific number [of tournaments I should play]."
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