Naomi Osaka blames herself for Madrid Open heartbreak, reveals motivation behind Saint-Malo win

Naomi Osaka has used her victory at last week's L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo to refocus her efforts on the clay-court season. After claiming her maiden clay title, Osaka revealed the motivation behind her Saint-Malo win and also blamed herself for the first-round exit in Madrid. The four-time major winner is slowly climbing back up the rankings after an abdominal strain disrupted her start to the season.

Osaka took some time off before managing three wins in Miami that appeared to signal a return to form. She was disappointed, then, to lose in the Round of 128 in Madrid to Lucia Bronzetti, despite extending the Italian to three sets. Osaka decided to drop down to the WTA 125 level, coming through five matches to win the Saint-Malo tournament, beating Kaja Juvan in the final.

Osaka was interviewed by the Tennis Channel before mounting her challenge for this week's Italian Open and explained how disappointed she was to lose so early in Madrid, as she had trained diligently at her coach Patrick Mouratoglou's academy in the south of France.

"Obviously I lost in the frst round in Madrid, which really sucks because I trained so hard for three weeks at Patrick's academy, so I really wanted to do well," Naomi Osaka said.

Taking the Madrid setback in her stride, Osaka entered the Saint-Malo tournament to refocus and get some clay-court tennis under her belt in time for the Italian Open and the French Open later this month. She added,

"I put too much pressure on myself, so just going to St Malo I dunno, I just wanted to bring it back to basics, I wanted to practice and I guess play alot of matches, and I was glad that I was able to do that."

Saint-Malo worked perfectly for Naomi Osaka. She won the tournament, her first WTA title in four years, and after two prolonged three-set matches, she was able to practice thoroughly on the dirt.

Naomi Osaka vastly improved her confidence on clay after the 2024 French Open

Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2025 - Day Three - Source: Getty

Naomi Osaka has never been entirely comfortable on clay. The former World No. 1 has had a sketchy history with the French Open over the years. She withdrew from the tournament in 2023, citing depression, and did not play in 2020 through injury, or in 2021 over a row about her skipping press conferences. She's never progressed beyond the third round at Roland-Garros.

However, last year, Naomi played perhaps her best clay-court match in Paris when she met Iga Swiatek, a specialist on the surface. Osaka extended Swiatek to three sets in the second round, losing a tight match 5-7 in the final set. Osaka told the Tennis Channel that the match had improved her confidence:

"Obviously I played a really good match, the last year of Roland Garros. That maybe increased my love for clay, for me everything is about experience, I've learned a lot, and I guess I'm trying to implement it every match that I play."

The next step in Naomi Osaka's test on clay is the second round of the Italian Open. She beat Sara Errani in the first round today, 6-2, 6-3, and will have a tough test in the next round against ninth-seed Paula Badosa.