Osaka: Regaining Confidence After “Inhumane” Quest

By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, July 30, 2026
Photo credit: Jeff Dean/Wick Photography for Mubadala DC Open

Practice makes perfect, but the pursuit of perfection makes Naomi Osaka unsure.

Coming off the best Wimbledon run of her career that saw Osaka knock off No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka en route to the SW19 quarterfinals, the former No. 1 is finding her footing and strengthening self-belief on Washington, DC’s hard courts.

Osaka led Ashlyn Krueger, 6-3, 3-1 when the American wild card retired due to injury sending the 28-year-old Japanese into her 38th Tour-level quarterfinal.

Since losing to Sabalenka in the Roland Garros round of 16, Osaka has made quarterfinals or better at three consecutive tournaments.

The four-time Grand Slam champion says she enters every tournament with one end game: Taking the title home.

“I never sign up for a tournament, you know, thinking that I won’t win,” Osaka told the media at the Mubadala DC Open.

Yet, the owner of seven career hard-court titles concedes her own “inhumane” expectation can drain her confidence.

“It’s more for me internally like the level of perfection that I strive towards, it’s kind of inhumane a little bit,” Osaka said. “I always just put that goal on myself in practices, in matches..

‘”I would say that’s why I don’t feel, quote, unquote, confident is because, like, there’s always this next thing that I feel like I could keep doing.”

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The third-seeded Osaka will face Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto for a semifinal spot fueled by the belief she can take anyone down at her best.

“I mean, it’s not saying I’m not confident in my abilities,” Osaka said. “I think, you know, if it got down to it, I think I’d give anyone a run for their money.”