La belle est pour... Naomi Osaka. Comme en 2021 et 2024, Caroline Garcia et Naomi Osaka s'affrontaient à l'Open d'Australie. Il y a quatre ans, la Japonaise s'était imposée avant une revanche de la Française l'an passé. Cette fois, c'est Osaka qui a pris le dessus en trois manches, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Dans un match serré, la Japonaise a su se montrer plus incisive dans les moments clés. Alors qu'elle aura fort à faire contre Karolina Muchova au deuxième tour, la quadruple championne en Grand Chelem a eu une pensée pour les victimes des incendies à Los Angeles.
Category
🥇
SportTranscription
00:00Your first win here at Australian Open since 2022, just talk about how it felt out there
00:08tonight and thoughts on the match generally.
00:10Yeah, I feel really old when you put it like that, but yeah, it felt really good.
00:18Obviously, I played Caroline last year and it didn't go my way.
00:22So yeah, overall, just really glad to have won today.
00:27Okay, who'd like the first question?
00:29Over here.
00:30Were there flashes of déjà vu for you tonight?
00:33And I guess Naomi, what kind of knowledge did you draw on from your match last year
00:39that you used tonight?
00:41Honestly, there was déjà vu, but not from last year.
00:47I remember playing her in 2021, the year that I won.
00:51So I kind of thought about that a little bit.
00:54I hope that I played her in 2021 and I didn't make that up.
00:57Okay, yeah.
00:59So I did think about that and then I found it quite ironic that I play her like every
01:03couple of Australian Opens.
01:06But yeah, I mean, she's a really great player and I was pretty impressed with some of the
01:12shots that she made.
01:13So I knew that I just had to keep, I guess, hanging in there.
01:19And at what point did you feel like it went your way in the third, Naomi?
01:27I mean, I don't feel like it ever didn't go my way.
01:32That sounds terrible.
01:35In the way that like, for me, I've always felt like if I concentrated hard enough, then
01:43I'd obviously hold my own serve.
01:45And from there, like, I just have to have as much will as possible.
01:50And that takes a lot of energy from me.
01:52But if you were to say like an exact moment it went my way, probably like realistically
02:01when I broke her in the third.
02:03Okay, Ben?
02:04Concentration is the biggest challenge, I guess, for you in matches these days?
02:11I wouldn't say concentration, but like, there's a level of focus that I can get to, but it
02:20takes a lot of energy for me, but like, I tried to explain it to someone.
02:25And it's kind of like, you're a fighter, you're like a boxer against another boxer.
02:31And for me, I'm not a confrontational person, but I'm a boxer as my profession.
02:38And it takes a lot of energy for me to know that I'm going to go fight against somebody.
02:44And for me, that's what my focus is.
02:46And obviously, once it's there, like I say come on a lot, and I'm yelling, and it's almost
02:52like I'm a different person.
02:54But up until it gets to that point, I overthink a little bit.
03:00Do you know the directions to that point all the time?
03:03Or do you have to sort of find your way there?
03:05I think, you know, like I write in my book, like, have intense focus, have commitment
03:12every shot.
03:14But I think I do kind of follow the flow of the match.
03:18Courtney?
03:19Naomi?
03:20Hi.
03:21Hi.
03:22Congrats on the win.
03:24Last year, obviously, you had some tough reset losses, situations where you were up and couldn't
03:29close.
03:30How big was tonight?
03:31Because it seemed like, not that the match was slipping away, but you had to work through
03:35some frustrations, especially early on in that third set.
03:38So yeah, how does this feel like a turning of the page a little bit on last year?
03:45I mean, honestly, if you were to say turning the page, I'd probably say that was in Auckland.
03:52Because I played really tough matches there and really tough conditions.
03:56And I felt like even though the tennis wasn't necessarily the cleanest, I think it was like
04:03the mental side that got me through into the final.
04:06So I was really happy about that.
04:07And I think it continued on to this match because I don't feel like I played the cleanest
04:13tonight either.
04:14But like mentally, I just really wanted to win a lot.
04:20And I'm kind of excited for my next match because I, I don't know, it's another person
04:28that I'm going to, I haven't played, well, I've played her in the US Open, but I'm just
04:33looking forward to it.
04:34Okay, Ben?
04:35Did you get a chance to play someone who you lost to at a Grand Slam before and get to
04:42win, I guess, this Valentine's Night?
04:43Does it feel like getting like a little stone out of your shoe or something that's been
04:46bugging you to be able to sort of correct the record in some way?
04:52Honestly, for me, no, because I don't really think about like who won more or like stuff
05:00like that.
05:01For me, every tournament or every Grand Slam is a new opportunity.
05:04And obviously, I'd really like to win that one or this one.
05:09And so I think of it more as like, one out of seven matches.
05:15Any more in English?
05:16Courtney, and then one more Ben, Courtney.
05:19You said you're excited to face Karolina Mukhova next, obviously, another great player, tough
05:25draw you've been given, by the way.
05:28But what makes you excited about facing her?
05:31I think just like having the opportunity to see what I can do.
05:36Obviously, I fell a little short in the US Open, but my outfit was spectacular.
05:43But yeah, I'm hoping this time my tennis can shine a little bit better.
05:49And also, I love getting difficult draws.
05:54Like I find that the most fun.
05:56And it's kind of like once you get a difficult draw, you can prove that you're the best of
06:02the best.
06:03So for me, it's like, it's, it's the most fun moment.
06:07Okay, last one in English, Ben.
06:09Oh, sorry.
06:10No, no, not Ben.
06:11We'll do two more.
06:12At the back and then Ben.
06:13Hi Naomi, I'm Roy from The Age here in Melbourne.
06:16I see you got the LA cap on, the Lakers gear.
06:19I was so sad to hear on court the fires got so close to your house.
06:23How have you kept focus?
06:24Has it been difficult to know that's happening so far away that something special like at
06:29home is under threat?
06:31Um, honestly, I don't think I've been doing the greatest keeping focus, but obviously
06:37I won.
06:38So I think it's an acceptable job.
06:40Um, it is really difficult for me because I don't know.
06:48I think it's tougher now because I find my home is more of a home because I have memories
06:53with my daughter and there's so many things like keepsakes and stuff like that.
06:58And obviously you can't hoard them all when you're asking someone to go to your house
07:02and just grab stuff.
07:06So it is really tough in that sense, and I'm not there, so I don't know how bad it is or
07:11how bad it's going to get.
07:14But I think the biggest thing that I am grateful for is that everyone in my family is safe.
07:19Okay, last one in English Ben.
07:22Yeah, my question was the same, just sort of how much do you let yourself have your
07:25thoughts go back to LA or how much do you try to lock in to what you're trying to do
07:30here too?
07:31Um, I mean, I'm a great multitasker.
07:34So I do both.
07:36Like I'll check the wildfire map, like any chance that I get just to see what's happening.
07:43And also, um, I had friends in LA, um, but they're safe.
07:48One of them flew to New York.
07:50So, um, I don't know, it's, it's really difficult.
07:54And I also feel like in a way it's tough because I don't think I'll go back to LA immediately
08:03after, you know, like, I don't feel like it's safe enough to go back there.
08:07So it's kind of a little bit in a limbo, but also motivating me to hopefully stay here
08:13as long as I can.
08:14Okay, we'll switch to national language.
08:17Just raise your hand if you've got a question.
08:20Rocky?
08:36Yeah, um, it is interesting because I remember the last couple of times I played Caroline,
08:42um, her serve was overwhelming me a lot.
08:45And today it felt a little more breezy, but I think in that way, Patrick helped me a lot
08:52because he gave me quite a, quite a couple of tips and I just had to apply them.
08:57And then it suddenly became a little predictable.
09:01So, um, yeah, honestly, I would owe that to him.
09:07Yeah, it was like specific tips against her serve.
09:16Next one in national language.
09:19Yeah.
09:21In the final set, you seemed to be holding back a lot.
09:27Do you feel like your mental control has improved?
09:35Yeah, definitely.
09:36I think, um, obviously it was a little bit like a wave, um, the match today.
09:43And in the third set, I definitely wanted to be really focused.
09:47And, um, honestly, I was inspired by, though it was a little long, the Djokovic match before me.
09:54I was really impressed by, um, I'm going to butcher his name, but the kid that Djokovic played.
10:00I thought it was really cool how focused he was.
10:03And even though he cramped, like he was still intent on playing, um, the match.
10:08And on Djokovic's side, it was really cool how he's so determined to win all the time.
10:13And I saw him like screaming, come on.
10:15So, um, yeah, I, I tried to focus a lot like that as well.
10:29I mean, I think obviously being a mom has changed me quite a lot.
10:33Um, I, I hope that I focus a lot more on the court with the time that I have.
10:40And I think I, um, I don't know.
10:44I'm a little bit more calm though.
10:46Maybe today didn't show it as much, but I hope that, you know, with the matches
10:51and with the continuation of playing tournaments, um, maybe more treats will pop up.
10:57Okay.
10:58All right.
10:59Uh, one more Aki.
11:00Last one.
11:05Thank you for asking the important questions.
11:10Oh, do I just respond to that?
11:19Yeah.
11:21Hmm.
11:22Well, I mean, for me, it's like, oh, I don't know if like anyone was able to take a very zoomed in, um, picture of my shoes yet.
11:31But on the side, it says like the sun shines where you are.
11:36And obviously it's sunflower themed.
11:38And, um, I have like sunflower earrings and I had things in my hair, but I had to take them out.
11:44Um, so the theme is sunflower and, um, every slam this year will have a flower theme shoe.
11:52So I think that that's really cute.
11:54And, um, I don't know, the Australian opens the happy slam.
11:58So I thought it was really fitting for it to have a sunny theme.