Richard Pagliaro | Monday, August 4, 2025
Image source: Omnium Banque Nationale Facebook
Being a fitter will make you smarter in court. Andre Agassi Famously observed.
Naomi Osaka It was pointed out that improving fitness was one of three main reasons for her Montreal revival.
Former world number one Osaka smashes former US Open player Anastasija Sevastova 6-1, 6-0 In the 49-minute wrestling match, it was the shortest match of her career.
It was Osaka’s fourth straight win, equivalent to her longest winning streak of the season, which was held in Oakland in January. It brought Osaka to her first Canadian Open quarterfinals and jumped her to No. 34 in the live rankings as she was within distance of the U.S. open wildcard.
Osaka attributes the best Montreal of her career to three main reasons: She is healthy and happier in court and believes her trial with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski so far, her trials have all performed well due to the direct, pointless style of the Pole’s coach.
“Honestly, I think it works very well for me, and I’m very confident in my fitness,” Osaka said. “I really
Comfortably letting the ball back, I really like Tomasz. I don’t know his name is “Thomas” or “tomasz”. I’m sorry.
“But I like his coaching style. He’s very direct and key. For people like me, my ideas are often spread and it’s very helpful.”
Sometimes, Osaka this season was beaten by deep balls in the corner, and sometimes trying to hit a big shot in the game, instead hitting a deep ball back to give yourself time to get back to the center of the court.
In fact, in her 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 comeback conquering the 13th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the second round, Osaka would beat repeatedly in cross-community, sometimes in cross-community rather than taking a step, rather than a short, precise preparation step to give herself the ideal physical spacing and make the ideal spacing between her body and the ball.
2023 Montreal finalist Samsonova defeated two matches with a score of 6-4, 5-4, 40-15, when Osaka dug out and denied two match points, inspiring her exciting comeback.
Looking back, a comeback victory could change Osaka’s season if she maintained that streak. Keeping these match points, Osaka begins to put valid points together instead of resorting to attempting to end points prematurely through a one-time strike.
Similarly, Osaka said she is now focusing on achieving “mini goals” in the competition as she tries to stack more wins together and pursue the ultimate goal of top 10 returns and eventually compete for the SLAM title again.
“It’s weird. I talked to my father, and he said, like health and happiness are a form of success,” Osaka said. “I agree with that, but I want more.”
“I mean, of course, I want to win the Grand Slam, of course I want to be in the top ten, but I
Thinking I need to speed up my pace and achieve mini goals, they will eventually become big goals. Yes, I think the quarterfinals here are a step to hopefully reaching the semifinals and finals, so I will try my best to treat it. ”
Osaka won her 20th victory of the season in Montreal, which matched her 2024 victory output. Now she will try to maintain her roll, facing Elina Svitolina of the 10th seed, in the semifinals. The 27-year-old Osaka won four of seven meetings with Svitolina, who will test the patience of Japanese power players with her accuracy.
