By Chris Oddo | Friday March 8, 2019
What a difference a year makes. Last year Naomi Osaka was here at the BNP Paribas Open with a ranking of 44 and zero career titles. This week the 21-year-old returns to the California Desert to begin her first title defense.
Oh, and she’s ranked No.1 in the world if you’re scoring at home.
But don’t think for a moment that the pressure is going to spoil the occasion for the Japanese Mega star. With two Grand Slam titles to her name she is confident in her abilities and that’s not going to change if she doesn’t become the first WTA player to successfully defend the BNP Paribas Open title since Martina Navratilova in 1991.
“[Indian Wells] was my first one, and I was just thinking if I win here then maybe I have to win every tournament from then on,” Osaka told reporters in a crowded press room on Thursday afternoon. “I just put this ridiculous pressure on myself.”
Osaka says that the fact that she struggled after claiming her maiden title here last year actually taught her a lot about patience. She now takes a longer view. There are plenty of tournaments to play and she knows she will likely log plenty of seasons on tour.
In other words: there’s no rush, so why not enjoy the ride a bit. And the resultant relaxation helps her play better, all the better.
Osaka says she came to Indian Wells just looking to have some fun last year, and she knows that a pot full of simmering expectations are always far better than boiling ones.
“I just decided to have fun again which was the mentality I had coming in here the first time anyways,” she said of her performance at the US Open, which came after six months of tennis that she deemed a disappointment. “I feel like tennis players are lucky in that way because we get so many tournaments compared to Olympians; that must be crazy that pressure.”
But let’s be clear: Osaka knows there’s pressure and she knows now that there is a certain responsibility that comes with being No.1 in the world. The pressure exists, it’s part it’s in the World No.1 Grand Slam juggernaut job description—she knows that. But she also knows that it’s not worth it to stress over it.
“This is the first time it’s ever happened to me,” she said of the challenge of defending this title and the 1000 ranking points that go with it. “All of the people around me, they are super supportive. They are not talking about title defense. I think we just want to keep moving forward and it’s not about defending it’s about getting another one. So I think that’s the way that our minds are and that’s how it might be different compared to other people—I don’t really believe in defending I believe in getting another one.”
Her quest for another one starts on Saturday at Indian Wells when she’ll face Kristina Mladenovic in second-round action. No matter what happens, there will always be the special memory of her maiden title, which represents the official end of the year of Osaka.
And now a new once commences. Grab your popcorn, in other words. .
“It’s been a really crazy ride for me,” Osaka told reporters, unafraid to admit that she’s still a little surprised by all her success. “I feel like you guys say last year and it feels like 10 years ago in a way.”