Naomi Osaka Begins Preparation to Seize the Missing French Open Crown

With four Grand Slam titles under her belt, Naomi Osaka has proved in the last couple of years that she could be the rightful heir to the legendary Serena Williams.

The Japanese player has already defeated the best in the world and is now looking to extend her dominance to various surfaces. She achieved all four Grand Slam victories on hard courts.

Naomi Osaka has a below-par record on clay

Osaka’s record on clay and grass isn’t looking great at the moment. Last year, she took a break from the clay-court season due to a hamstring injury post the US Open title.

Even her clay-court numbers in 2019 weren’t that great either; she had 9 wins and 4 losses on the red-dirt that season.

With Roland Garros coming up, Osaka is looking to up her ante on clay as she has chosen to play the Madrid Open ahead of the French. In a video posted on her official Instagram account,

the Japanese player was seen practicing on a green clay court. Osaka appears to be sliding well on clay and she captioned the post, “How fun.”

 

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Green clay behaves differently than the traditional red-clay courts. While the red clay has a lot of bounce and less pace, the green clay courts are usually harder and a bit faster. The recently concluded WTA tournament at Charleston (also known as the Volvo Car Open) is played on green clay courts.

A strong player-field awaits Osaka at this year’s clay season
It only a matter of time before Osaka clinches a clay-court title. But there are a lot of clay-court specialists on the WTA tour with the likes of Simona Halep, Kiki Bertens, and Jelena Ostapenko aiming to get their first title of the year on red-dirt.