Naomi Osaka makes her feelings clear on working during Christmas

Naomi Osaka is gearing up for the 2025 season and has been practicing for her upcoming tournament with her team. With the holiday season on, the Japanese star this week expressed her thoughts on the prospect of practicing on Christmas Day.

Osaka had a successful 2024 season, her first full year on tour since becoming a mother, as she went from being an unranked player to ending the year inside the top 60. This was the biggest ranking jump of any player on the 2024 WTA Tour. She is now eyeing further progress in 2025 and will kick off her season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

She has arrived in Auckland for the WTA 250 tournament and took to Instagram on Christmas to share a video from a training session with head coach Patrick Mouratoglou and hitting partner Matias Zukas. In the video, Osaka asked Mouratoglou and Zukas if they like practicing on Christmas, and then gave her take too.

Zukas said they might be on the court for just 30 minutes. The answer surprised Osaka. The former World No. 1 then turned to Mouratoglou, and the Frenchman was happy about practicing on Christmas, saying it was "beautiful weather" and "nobody" would bother them because of the holiday.

Osaka then turned the camera on herself and said:

"I feel great hitting on Christmas right off of the plane. Perfect."

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Naomi Osaka will be seeded at ASB Classic 2025

for the first time since her comeback

Naomi Osaka (Source: Getty)

The 2025 ASB Classic will be Naomi Osaka's first tournament as a seeded player following her return to the tour last year. In early 2024, the Japanese needed wildcards to compete in tournaments and she got direct entry into events in the latter half of the year as her ranking shot up.

Osaka will be the seventh seed at the 2025 ASB Classic. Madison Keys, Elise Mertens, Amanda Anisimova, and Lulu Sun, will be the top four seeds, respectively, at the tournament. 2025 will be Osaka's first campaign in Auckland since her quarterfinal finish in 2017.

The ASB Classic begins on December 30 and will be Naomi Osaka's only warm-up tournament before the Australian Open. The World No. 58 is a two-time winner in Melbourne. In 2024, she lost to Caroline Garcia in the first round.