"I get homesick quite often" - Naomi Osaka on why she doesn't play week-in and week-out

During her press conference ahead of the start of the 2021 Miami Open, Naomi Osaka was asked about her playing schedule in the aftermath of the American hardcourt swing. In response, the World No. 2 claimed she doesn't exactly what a 'normal schedule' is, considering she has never been fond of playing every week.

"Well for me, I'm not really sure what a normal schedule is but I've never thought of myself as the player that would play week-in and week-out," Naomi Osaka said. "I personally get homesick quite often and it makes me kinda sad some times. I would like to travel somewhere and focus on that tournament."

Naomi Osaka believes that playing selective tournaments is something that works for her. The Japanese admitted, however, that she needs to find a way to do better on European clay, where she has famously struggled over the years.

"It's something that I think works for me," Osaka added. "Hopefully it will work for me this time in Europe, my results there haven't been that great. But with every year on the tour, I learn more about myself and what schedule I like."

"I'm just going where the wind takes me" - Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka won the 2021 Australian Open, where fans were allowed in limited capacity

Naomi Osaka is still going through a learning curve when it comes to playing on non-hardcourt surfaces. She hasn't yet won a Major tournament outside of the Australian Open and the US Open; in fact, she has never even reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros or Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old is looking to correct that record this year, even if she has to play without fans amid the second wave of COVID. Osaka talked about her experience of playing tournaments after the resumption of the tour, saying she wasn't 'too sure' about the difference with or without fans.

"Honestly, I'm not too sure," Naomi Osaka replied when she was asked about playing in front of limited fans. "For me, I've only played four tournaments since every thing started. Two of them without fans at all, the other two of them at Australia where there were fans but there was a period there were not any fans."

Osaka went as far as claiming that she was not too bothered by the fans' absence, as she felt she was very 'adjustable'.

"I feel I'm very adjustable right now, I'm just going where the wind takes me," Osaka said.