Naomi Osaka recently highlighted how rigorous anti-doping testing can be in tennis. The Japanese is in Paris for the French Open. Before starting her campaign, she recounted being subjected to a ‘scary’ early-morning anti-doping test in the previous edition of the tournament.
Osaka will be high on spirits at Roland Garros as she arrives fresh off winning the WTA 125K Saint-Malo title and reaching the Round of 16 at the Italian Open. Moreover, the Japanese star has won seven of her last eight matches, giving her a significant boost ahead of the clay-court Slam.
Naomi Osaka Reflects on Early-Morning Blood Test Scare From Last Year’s French Open
A few days ago, Osaka shared a slightly sarcastic post on Threads, complaining about the 5 a.m. anti-doping blood tests ahead of a Grand Slam.
“S/o antidoping for consistently coming at 5 am to take my blood the day before a slam ❤️,” she wrote.
The former World No. 1 reiterated her fear of anti-doping procedures in her pre-tournament press conference. She revealed that the testers who arrived at 5 a.m. struggled to find her veins and often needed multiple attempts to draw blood.
“I don’t have a great relationship with them. Just because they always come and take blood and urine, which I don’t know if that disgusts people or whatever. And my veins are very notoriously hard to find. And a person once told me it’s like a Japanese thing. I don’t know if that’s accurate. So they come at 5 a.m and then stick me multiple times,” she said.
Osaka’s fear stemmed from her experience last year. The 27-year-old recalled that her anti-doping blood test left her with bruised arms after multiple failed attempts at the 2024 French Open. This year’s experience, however, turned out smoother, as she happened to need the bathroom when they arrived.
“And today was kind of scary because the last year I was here, they also came at 5 a.m and the lady couldn’t find my veins at all. And I had like huge bruises on my arms for a while so thankfully it wasn’t the same lady, no shade to her. But yeah today was a success because luckily I had to use the bathroom when they woke me up,” she added.
Naomi Osaka set to face Paula Badosa in the French Open 1R
Naomi Osaka will start her French Open campaign against the former World No. 2 and 10th seed Paula Badosa on Monday, May 26. Notably, this marks their first encounter on tour. Badosa’s run in the 2025 season has been disrupted by a persistent back injury, leading to multiple withdrawals from Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, and Rome.
The Spaniard returned to action in Strasbourg nearly two months after her injury hiatus but faced a quarterfinal exit after falling to finalist Liudmila Samsonova.
Considering their form in the lead-up clay-court tournaments, Osaka heads as a favorite against Badosa in their first-round match at the French Open. Whoever wins will face Elena-Gabriela Ruse or McCartney Kessler in the second round.
AloJapan.com