Naomi Osaka on regaining confidence in Washington, DC QF run.
By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, July 30, 2026
Picture credit score: Jeff Dean/Wick Images for Mubadala DC Open
Follow makes excellent, however the pursuit of perfection makes Naomi Osaka not sure.
Coming off one of the best Wimbledon run of her profession that noticed Osaka knock off No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka en path to the SW19 quarterfinals, the previous No. 1 is discovering her footing and strengthening self-belief on Washington, DC’s arduous courts.
Osaka led Ashlyn Krueger, 6-3, 3-1 when the American wild card retired on account of damage sending the 28-year-old Japanese into her thirty eighth Tour-level quarterfinal.
Since shedding to Sabalenka within the Roland Garros spherical of 16, Osaka has made quarterfinals or higher at three consecutive tournaments.
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The four-time Grand Slam champion says she enters each event with one finish sport: Taking the title dwelling.
“I by no means join a event, you recognize, pondering that I gained’t win,” Osaka informed the media on the Mubadala DC Open.
But, the proprietor of seven profession hard-court titles concedes her personal “inhumane” expectation can drain her confidence.
“It’s extra for me internally like the extent of perfection that I try in direction of, it’s form of inhumane a bit bit,” Osaka stated. “I at all times simply put that aim on myself in practices, in matches..
‘”I might say that’s why I don’t really feel, quote, unquote, assured is as a result of, like, there’s at all times this subsequent factor that I really feel like I might hold doing.”
The third-seeded Osaka will face Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto for a semifinal spot fueled by the assumption she will take anybody down at her finest.
“I imply, it’s not saying I’m not assured in my talents,” Osaka stated. “I feel, you recognize, if it obtained right down to it, I feel I’d give anybody a run for his or her cash.”
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Richard Pagliaro. Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He’s a graduate of New York College and has coated professional tennis for greater than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and labored as a author/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.
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