"I saw Naomi Osaka crying in the locker room" - Daria Saville recalls consoling Japanese and predicting her Slam win

Australian tennis player Daria Saville recently recalled consoling a tearful Naomi Osaka in the locker room.

Saville is scheduled to pair up with Daria Kasaktina for her doubles opener against the duo of Monica Niculescu and Lidziya Marozava on Sunday, December 31, at the Brisbane International 2024.

On the other hand, Osaka is set to make her much-anticipated return against Germany's Tamara Korpatsch on Monday, January 1 at the same tournament. This will be her first WTA Tour appearance since facing Saville at the Pan Pacific in 2022.

Ahead of the Brisbane event, Saville reflected on her camaraderie with Osaka while reacting to the latter's recent comments.

"I haven't come across Naomi too many times. Obviously, when we did see each other, we said 'hello'. We were just passing. Everyone's so busy," the Aussie told the media.

The former World No. 20 recounted reassuring an aggrieved Osaka of success at the Grand Slams during a locker-room encounter. She said:

"I just remember I saw her crying in the locker room. I was like, 'Oh, my God, this is sad, she shouldn't cry, she's such a great tennis player'. I was like, 'You're probably going to win the next slam, you'll be fine.' And I think she won."

The 29-year-old continued:

"Yeah, I think I'm pretty friendly off the court. Yeah, I empathize with people, players, 'cause actually the tour, we're one big circus. Yeah, I think it's good to be kind to people. I'm not talking myself up."

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A look into what Naomi Osaka said about Daria Saville recently

Naomi Osaka

In her press conference ahead of Brisbane International 2024 earlier on Saturday, Naomi Osaka drew parallels between Daria Saville and her best mate, Ons Jabeur.

"Actually, she [Daria Saville] is one of the first players to talk to me. I kind of put her in the Ons box of someone who's very extroverted, was able to talk to me even though I had headphones on and stuff," the four-time Grand Slam champion said.

The Japanese continued:

"I have a lot of love and respect for her. I think she's a great player. She always has a smile on her face. I really respect that. It's really good, really good to see her."

Interestingly, Naomi Osaka and Daria Saville's on-court head-to-head record hangs in the balance at 1-1. They first squared off in the qualifiers of Cincinnati Masters 2016, when the Aussie prevailed.

The duo's second meeting ended prematurely at the 2022 Pan Pacific as Saville retired with an ACL injury after losing the first game.