“I grew up in an era watching Serena Williams” – Naomi Osaka credits American legend for her service-first approach to tennis

August 4, 2025

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Naomi Osaka shared that the reason she rarely misses her first serve is that she grew up watching Serena Williams play her best tennis. The Japanese player defeated Anastasija Sevastova in the last 16 to qualify for the quarterfinals at the National Bank Open in Montreal.

Osaka, despite having underwhelming stints in the past tournaments, brought her A game to the WTA 1000 tournament. She faced Sevastova in the Round of 16 and won 6-1, 6-0, having dropped just one game. She even converted all five of her break-point opportunities and won 76 percent of her second-serve points while her rival trailed with 22.

Ahead of her match-up with Elina Svitolina on August 6, she was asked whether her serve was her ‘biggest weapon’ since she never loses the first one. In response, she revealed that the legendary Serena Williams greatly inspired her while growing up, saying:

"I think for me I just grew up in an era of watching Serena, and she would be down Love 40 and hit four aces. I still think about that sometimes when I play. I also feel like it doesn't have to be an ace. I just have to hit a really good serve and see what happens, because off the baseline, I still think I'm one of the better players, so..."

Naomi Osaka has won four Grand Slam titles so far in her career - the 2019, 2021 Australian Open and the 2018, 2020 US Open.

Naomi Osaka revealed that her new coach, Tomasz, had a big role to play in her stellar wins in Montreal

Naomi Osaka at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open presented by Rogers - Day 8 - (Source: Getty)

Naomi Osaka hasn't had much success since her comeback from a pregnancy hiatus in 2024. She only won a below Tour-level tournament, WTA 125 Open de Saint-Malo, this year, and faced early exits in the Grand Slams. Her stint at the DC Citi Open also ended in the second round, following which she parted ways with her previous coach, Patrick Mouratoglou.

Joining the likes of Iga Swiatek's former coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, and kick-starting the partnership at the Canadian Open, Osaka reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal in 19 months. In a post-match press conference, the 27-year-old said that her coach helped her organize her scattered thoughts and regain confidence in her fitness.

"I think for me what's working well is I am very confident in my fitness. I'm really comfortable just getting balls back now, and I really enjoy Tomasz. I don't know if to say his name is 'Thomas' or 'Tomasz.' I'm so sorry. But I enjoy his coaching style. He's very direct and to the point. For someone like me, who my thoughts scatter around often, it's very helpful."

Naomi Osaka has often been vocal about her mental health issues, having withdrawn from the 2021 French Open, citing the same.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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