Naomi Osaka defeated Sara Errani 6-3 6-1 in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and later shared with the media her experience of having her baby accompany her at the tournament.
Through the swirly winds reaching the court, Osaka had a balanced 9 aces and 9 double faults in the match against Errani. The Japanese player’s first serve percentage was only 52% to the Italian qualifier’s 82%. Despite the dire serve statistics, the 2018 champion kept calm and worked through the tricky conditions to take the victory.
Aside from winning her maiden title here, the 26-year-old claims Indian Wells as a sort of home tournament because as she said, “It’s nice to be able to get in the car and drive here” from Beverly Hills. This tournament is also the first where Osaka decided to travel with her baby daughter, Shai. Traveling as a mom is an adaptation in balancing work and life identities, “when she’s here, I’m an athlete and I’m a mom at the same time. There’s a constant surge of energy that I have to have.”
Speaking with press after the match, the four-time Slam winner was relaxed and took her time with media, but eager to get back home to her baby. “She is a very schedule-oriented baby, so I know exactly what she’s doing in all hours of the day.” Smiling, she checked her watch and added, “right now she’s about to eat.”
At this stage of coming back to form, the current world No.287 must claw her way through tough draws just to get the rust off and get more match experience again. “I needed this win today, especially it being so tricky with the wind and everything. I haven’t had that under my belt for a long time and I think it was an advantage for me to play a first-round match.”
This early in the comeback, Osaka is not putting too much pressure on herself, “I’m just really excited to keep going through the tournament.” The next opponent will be Liudmila Samsonova in round 2 on Saturday.
