Naomi Osaka claims she is "glad she isn't winning on clay", says she needs to "trust herself" to make the transition from hardcourt

Naomi Osaka has won four of the last six hardcourt Grand Slams, but she has never gone beyond the third round at the sport's only claycourt Major - Roland Garros. During her press conference ahead of this week's Italian Open, Osaka talked about what she needs to do to make the transition from hardcourt to clay, and how it's a good thing that she isn't winning much on dirt right now.

Osaka believes she is constantly learning how to play on clay, and that the losses are motivating her to practice harder.

"Honestly, I feel like that's the reason why I'm here for match prep. I think, you know, actually in a weird way I'm kind of glad I'm not winning. I know that sounds a bit off, but I feel like I'm learning a lot," Osaka said. "It kind of gives me a lot of drive to practice harder and to learn from all my practices."

Naomi Osaka, who is placed No. 2 in the WTA rankings, also claimed that she had been practicing on green clay before starting her European clay season. Green clay is a surface that comprises of crushed metabasalt rather than brick, which in turn makes its properties a bit similar to those of hardcourts.

"Yeah, I mean, before I came here I was practicing on clay but it was green clay, so obviously very different," Osaka said.

Naomi Osaka then asserted that transitioning between surfaces was not hard for her if she truly put her mind to it and trusted herself.

"I think in the end, for me, I just have to -- I would say it's not even like a matter of transitioning from surfaces but it's more like me trusting myself," the Japanese added.

"Mentally it's a bit harder because you have to structure the points differently" - Naomi Osaka on claycourt tennis

Naomi Osaka exited early at the Madrid Open

During the interview, Naomi Osaka was also asked whether she found playing on clay to be physically or mentally taxing. The 23-year-old responded that it was a bit harder mentally because you need to constantly make the right shot selection and account for 'frustrating' variables like bad bounces.

"I would say for me mentally," Osaka said. "At the beginning when I first started training on clay, physically it was definitely very hard, but I'm the type that adapts quite quickly physically."

"So I would just say mentally it's a bit harder because you have to structure the points differently," she went on. "I also think there are bad bounces and stuff. I get quite frustrated. So, yeah, mentally I think it's a bit more taxing."

Naomi Osaka was then probed about whether she lets a tough defeat play on her mind. The Japanese replied in the negative, and claimed that she could see the bigger picture when it came to her losses. She also joked that her fans took her losses harder than she herself does.

"I mean, I'm always upset at my losses, but I feel like for this one, at the end of the day -- how do I explain this? Like I feel like other people were more upset than me, because they look at the result and not like what happened during the match or how I fought and stuff like that," Osaka said.

The World No. 2 added that she is always fully aware of the reasons behind a defeat, which makes it easier to keep moving forward.

"I feel like at the end of the day I'm the one that has to live with myself and only I know how much time and how much practice I put in before that match," Naomi Osaka said. "So I feel like it's one of those things that I'm gauging myself, like, how I'm improving and how I'm getting better."

I'm just not that comfortable on clay, not sure if it's because I need to play longer on it or if I just haven't grown up on it: Naomi Osaka

Playing her first claycourt tournament since the 2019 French Open, Naomi Osaka lost in the second round of the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open to Karolina Muchova. And in her Rome presser on Tuesday, Osaka was asked about what lessons she had learnt from that performance.

In reply, Naomi Osaka asserted that she was not very comfortable with her movement on clay as she had grown up playing on hardcourts. The Japanese also reiterated how the bad bounces on the surface can still bother her.

"Yeah, for me I feel like there are things that I have improved, but the comfortability, I'm not sure if I should be telling you this, but I'm just not that comfortable on it still," Osaka said. "And I'm not sure if it's because I need to play longer on it or if I just haven't grown up on it. I'll be more open to the bad bounces and stuff like that."