"I watched her a lot when I was pregnant" - Naomi Osaka finally comes to know Iga Swiatek could be her French Open 2R opponent

Naomi Osaka finally came to know that her possible second-round opponent could be Iga Swiatek. The Japanese won her first-round match against Lucia Bronzetti on May 26.

The former World No. 1 grinded out a hard-fought victory against Bronzetti. She cruised to win the first set 6-1. The Italian came back strong in the second set, as she eked out the victory by breaking Osaka's serve in the 10th game winning 6-4.

The Japanese broke her serve twice in the third set to get a 4-0 up before Bronzetti staged a comeback to win five games on the trot. Osaka held her serve before breaking the Italian's serve in the 11th game. She then sealed her victory by holding her serve to earn a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win.

The Japanese has her task court out for her in the second round as she could face two-time defending champion, Iga Swiatek. In the press conference before the first round, Osaka dismissed a question about her possible second-round opponent and asked the journalist not to reveal her draw.

"Don't tell me anything, please," Osaka requested.

Now after winning her first-round match, she talked about her reaction to finding out that she could end up facing Swiatek in the second round.

"Honestly, I really did not know but then, (Laughs), after I was like why does everyone keep asking me about this draw, and I knew I was in the top half and I was like, jokingly, well it's not like it's not like I am playing Iga and then everyone got quiet and I was like ohh," Naomi Osaka said at the press conference.

The Japanese also said it was an honor to face the two-time French Open champion and was really excited for the challenge.

"But yeah the next round is the only round I know so that’s all I am going to focus on and I am honestly really excited and I watched her a lot when I was pregnant and honestly I think it is an honor to play her in the French Open because she has won more than once here, it's like a big honor and challenge for me."

Naomi Osaka on her progress on clay: "I think I have significant amount of progress"

Naomi Osaka at a practice session at the 2024 French Open

Clay has not been as rewarding for Naomi Osaka as hardcourt, where she has won four Grand Slam titles. As she is charting her comeback after a pregnancy hiatus, she has taken significant strides in improving her clay game.

In a press conference, she said that she has spent time learning more about clay, adding that she wishes to perform better on clay and beat strong players.

"I think I have significant amount of progress and I feel like people can see that throughout the tournaments that I have played, but I feel like I have dedicated a lot of time to learning about clay. I want to do well and I want to keep beating really good players," Naomi Osaka said.

Naomi Osaka's best result at the French Open so far has been two third-round appearances in 2016 and 2019.