Baby steps for Naomi Osaka and daughter at French Open

PARIS – Naomi Osaka’s bittersweet relationship with the French Open tasted a little more appealing on May 25, when the Japanese star revealed her daughter had taken her first steps in Paris and she was on hand to witness it happen.

The 26-year-old, who has been in Europe for the best part of six weeks while baby Shai remained at home in Florida, has been reunited with her 10-month-old daughter ahead of the second Grand Slam of the season.

“Being away from her was really tough, but I called her every day. I saw how well she was doing and I saw how happy she was, so that made me happy too,” said Osaka.

“Yesterday she walked for the first time, so I was really happy about that. We’re going to practise some more when I get back.

“It’s really cool to have her here, just to see how much she’s grown and how many things she’s doing differently. It’s kind of surreal.”

The four-time Grand Slam winner and former world No. 1 has not always been so thrilled to be in the French capital.

In 2021, she was fined for opting out of mandatory media commitments at Roland Garros before withdrawing from the tournament in order to protect her mental health.

A year later, she fell in the first round before leaving the sport in September for 16 months to start a family.

“I’m learning a lot of lessons through motherhood, and I hope that I can remember to apply them on the tennis court,” Osaka said on the eve of her May 26 opener against Lucia Bronzetti.

One important trait of being a mother is patience, and the Japanese did not panic when she dropped the second set against her Italian opponent, eventually winning 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

Osaka’s four Slams were all won on the hard courts of the US Open (two) and Australian Open (two).

Attempting to transfer her raw power to the slower and more demanding clay of Europe has proved a sterner test.

She has yet to get past the third round at the French Open and following her win over Bronzetti, Osaka will then likely run into top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek in the second round.

There is always hope, however.

On the clay of Rome earlier in May, she knocked out top-20 players Daria Kasatkina and Marta Kostyuk before falling to eighth-ranked Zheng Qinwen in the last 16.

Now up to 134th in the world after being outside the top 800 in January, Osaka is gradually learning to appreciate the demands of clay where it is harder to simply hit your opponent off the court.

“Just observing other players more, watching how they play, watching how they move,” she said.

“I think the clay court is a little bit like a dance.

“It’s just really fun to watch people slide. It’s fun to watch the shot-making, the choices and why they do the things they do.” AFP