Naomi Osaka has made the intelligent decision to pull out of the Cincinnati Open, which started before her Canadian Open final had even been played.
This highlights the wider issue with the new 12-day format that these two events have been crammed into, which effectively prohibits anyone who went deep in Canada from rushing over to America.
Some will do it, as Karen Khachanov and Ben Shelton both have, but it will be more interesting to see how they get on as a consequence of their hard-fought final.
Naomi Osaka’s decision to snub the Cincinnati Open was the wise move though, especially after how tough things were for her not just during the final, but after.
The Japanese tennis star has been lambasted in the media for her post-match speech at length, but it was what she did midway through the match that startled one pundit.
Naomi Osaka told she looked defeated midway through the Canadian Open final
Speaking to The Tennis Podcast, Matt Roberts was far from pleased with what he saw from a dejected Osaka throughout the match.
After all, he felt that as it went on, the 27-year-old just seemed to wilt inexplicably.
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He claimed: “I’ve rarely had two ends of the spectrum like that at the same time, like, just incredible Mboko scenes. I wanted to go with it. I wanted to just completely live in that energy that she was giving off, that the crowd was giving to her. And it was magical seeing her win, but on the other side, it was one of the tougher watches I can remember.
“I mean, she [Osaka] was so despondent and defeated, so early in this match, as you said, start of the second set, it was maybe Mboko getting her teeth into it, maybe the crowd getting up, and it was a line call that Osaka wasn’t particularly happy with.
“Her energy and her attitude just flipped, and suddenly, she was kind of sulky, she was kind of pouting. She was giving off really bad negative energy. It was just a really tough watch.
“Her tennis deserted her. She stopped sort of moving for the ball. She tried to hit out too much; her forehand left the building.
“Like, and as great as Mboko was playing, I actually found that the Osaka of it all was overtaking things more. I felt I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t like watching this match because of that.
“And look, I really felt for her. I don’t know exactly what the cause was. I don’t know whether she knows, to be honest, because everything had been upside through this tournament until that point, you know, like, the movement that looked better, getting tight wins, she’d been swatting good players aside. She had all this momentum; she’s a set up in the final. And then, it just went and never looked like coming back.”
When will Naomi Osaka’s next match be?
Having pulled out of Cincinnati, Osaka will now be able to enjoy a period of much-earned rest after her deep run at the Canadian Open.
And, it will also give her a chance to properly enjoy a training block with new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.
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She teamed up with the Polish tactician after Washington, when Osaka split with Patrick Mouratoglou.
Since then, the 27-year-old’s form has skyrocketed, and it will be really interesting to see how that translates into the US Open.
That, for now, is where we can expect her next match to be.
AloJapan.com