Naomi Osaka.Photo: Clive Brunskill/GettyNaomi Osakais ready to keep winning.Osaka, who is competing for Japan, won her second-round match at the Tokyo Summer Olympics on Monday, defeating Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in two sets, 6-3, 6-2.“Honestly, I feel like I was a bit more nervous before the match,” Osaka told reporters afterwards. “I felt a lot of butterflies, but I think as I started playing and feeling more comfortable, I knew that no matter what it would be a great match.“However, while she may have been feeling more nerves, the 23-year-old athlete felt more relaxed on the court.“I think yesterday I was a bit more intense,” she said of heropening round matchagainst China’s 52nd-ranked Saisai Zheng, which she also won in straight sets.As for hopefully winning gold in Tokyo, Osaka said that standing on that podium “would mean a lot.““But I know it’s a process,” she added. “I know these are the best players in the world, and honestly I haven’t played in a while, so I’m trying to take it one notch at a time.“Prior to making her Olympic debut on Sunday, Osaka hadn’t played in two months after previouslysitting out both the French OpenandWimbledonafter going public with her mental health struggles.“All in all, I’m just really happy to be here,” she remarked.Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.One aspect of the games that hasn’t been as nerve-wracking?Lighting the Olympic cauldron.“Honestly, I didn’t feel pressure,” Osaka told reporters on Monday. “I felt more excitement. It was like a sense of duty, something I wanted to accomplish.“The athlete previously called the experience “undoubtedly thegreatest athletic achievement and honorI will ever have in my life.“Naomi Osaka.ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty ImagesEarlier this month, Osaka wrote an essay forTimemagazine, reflecting on the pressure she felt to disclose personal details about her mental health.“In my case, I felt under a great amount of pressure to disclose my symptoms — frankly because the press and the tournament did not believe me,” she wrote. “I do not wish that on anyone and hope that we can enact measures to protect athletes.“Her next match is on Tuesday, when she’ll compete against Markéta Vondroušová.To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.
Naomi Osaka.Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Naomi Osakais ready to keep winning.Osaka, who is competing for Japan, won her second-round match at the Tokyo Summer Olympics on Monday, defeating Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in two sets, 6-3, 6-2.“Honestly, I feel like I was a bit more nervous before the match,” Osaka told reporters afterwards. “I felt a lot of butterflies, but I think as I started playing and feeling more comfortable, I knew that no matter what it would be a great match.“However, while she may have been feeling more nerves, the 23-year-old athlete felt more relaxed on the court.“I think yesterday I was a bit more intense,” she said of heropening round matchagainst China’s 52nd-ranked Saisai Zheng, which she also won in straight sets.As for hopefully winning gold in Tokyo, Osaka said that standing on that podium “would mean a lot.““But I know it’s a process,” she added. “I know these are the best players in the world, and honestly I haven’t played in a while, so I’m trying to take it one notch at a time.“Prior to making her Olympic debut on Sunday, Osaka hadn’t played in two months after previouslysitting out both the French OpenandWimbledonafter going public with her mental health struggles.“All in all, I’m just really happy to be here,” she remarked.Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.One aspect of the games that hasn’t been as nerve-wracking?Lighting the Olympic cauldron.“Honestly, I didn’t feel pressure,” Osaka told reporters on Monday. “I felt more excitement. It was like a sense of duty, something I wanted to accomplish.“The athlete previously called the experience “undoubtedly thegreatest athletic achievement and honorI will ever have in my life.“Naomi Osaka.ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty ImagesEarlier this month, Osaka wrote an essay forTimemagazine, reflecting on the pressure she felt to disclose personal details about her mental health.“In my case, I felt under a great amount of pressure to disclose my symptoms — frankly because the press and the tournament did not believe me,” she wrote. “I do not wish that on anyone and hope that we can enact measures to protect athletes.“Her next match is on Tuesday, when she’ll compete against Markéta Vondroušová.To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.
Naomi Osakais ready to keep winning.
Osaka, who is competing for Japan, won her second-round match at the Tokyo Summer Olympics on Monday, defeating Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in two sets, 6-3, 6-2.
“Honestly, I feel like I was a bit more nervous before the match,” Osaka told reporters afterwards. “I felt a lot of butterflies, but I think as I started playing and feeling more comfortable, I knew that no matter what it would be a great match.”
However, while she may have been feeling more nerves, the 23-year-old athlete felt more relaxed on the court.
“I think yesterday I was a bit more intense,” she said of heropening round matchagainst China’s 52nd-ranked Saisai Zheng, which she also won in straight sets.
As for hopefully winning gold in Tokyo, Osaka said that standing on that podium “would mean a lot.”
“But I know it’s a process,” she added. “I know these are the best players in the world, and honestly I haven’t played in a while, so I’m trying to take it one notch at a time.”
Prior to making her Olympic debut on Sunday, Osaka hadn’t played in two months after previouslysitting out both the French OpenandWimbledonafter going public with her mental health struggles.
“All in all, I’m just really happy to be here,” she remarked.
Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.
One aspect of the games that hasn’t been as nerve-wracking?Lighting the Olympic cauldron.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel pressure,” Osaka told reporters on Monday. “I felt more excitement. It was like a sense of duty, something I wanted to accomplish.”
The athlete previously called the experience “undoubtedly thegreatest athletic achievement and honorI will ever have in my life.”
Naomi Osaka.ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images
Earlier this month, Osaka wrote an essay forTimemagazine, reflecting on the pressure she felt to disclose personal details about her mental health.
“In my case, I felt under a great amount of pressure to disclose my symptoms — frankly because the press and the tournament did not believe me,” she wrote. “I do not wish that on anyone and hope that we can enact measures to protect athletes.”
Her next match is on Tuesday, when she’ll compete against Markéta Vondroušová.
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.
source: people.com
