"I still feel a bit shocked whenever she reaches out" - When Naomi Osaka revealed why she couldn't be friends with Serena Williams

Japanese tennis sensation Naomi Osaka once revealed why she couldn't be friends with tennis legend Serena Williams.

The 25-year-old has always admired Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner who has played professionally longer than Osaka has been alive. And, despite the fact that Osaka has emerged as a tennis superstar in her own right, Williams' star power continues to sway the young Japanese.

In a 2019 interview with CBS Mornings, Osaka said that she couldn't be friends with Williams as she would need to win more than 20 Grand Slam titles for that, something she is yet to do.

"No [I can't be friends with her], I would have to win 20 something more Grand Slams to be her peer. She has so many lists of accomplishments, so no way. I have just been very grateful that I am even playing; I have been trying to take every day as a new experience and learn from everything," Naomi Osaka said.

The four-time Grand Slam winner went on to say that she has "huge respect" for Williams and wanted to have a long chat with her about life, but she was unable to do so since she believed Williams was doing "something important" and did not want to "interrupt" her.

"I have this huge respect for her. She is someone that I have looked up to my entire life, so I still feel a bit shocked whenever she reaches out and I don't know; I don't say hi to her or anything. I get so nervous," Naomi Osaka stated.

"She always seems like she is doing something important, so I don't wanna interrupt and then I really wanna talk to her about life and stuff and like how she manages to do things on and off the court. But, I don't wanna be disrespectful to her and try to talk to her like she is my mentor while she is still playing, so I am kinda just chilling on that," she added.

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"It has always been a dream" - Naomi Osaka on being ranked World No.1

Naomi Osaka during a press conference at Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

In the same interview, Naomi Osaka discussed how achieving the World No. 1 rank was always her dream. She first reached the summit of the WTA rankings on January 28, 2019.

"It has always been a dream, you know. I think that's like one of the things that like little kid tennis players look forward to. We want to win Grand Slams, we want to be No. 1," Osaka said.

Osaka's 2022 season has been underwhelming. While her streak of winning at least one Grand Slam every year has come to an end, she has also not won any title this year. As a result, her ranking has fallen significantly as well, and she is currently ranked World No. 42.