Naomi Osaka says she has nothing but great respect for Daria Kasatkina as the former world No. 1 reveals she was recently “smacked” by the Russian in a Madrid practice match to the point where she felt “embarrassed” and that she maybe should apologize for how bad she was.
After starting her Rome Open campaign with a 7-6 (2) 6-1 win over Clara Burel, Osaka also ousted No. 19 seed Marta Kostyuk 6-3 6-2 to progress into the third round. And for a place in the Rome round-of-16, Osaka will be playing against world No. 11 Kasatkina.
Following her win over Kostyuk, Osaka was told by reporters that Kasatkina also defeated Tatjana Maria and that the Russian would be her next opponent.
Osaka then mistakenly thought that 11th-ranked Kasatkina would be her first top-10 opponent in her post-pregnancy comeback.
“I think she’s my first top-10 player I’m playing this year, no? Am I crazy? She’s 10, c’mon (laughter),” Osaka said.
Osaka then tells how a recent practice with Kasatkina went
“Yeah, honestly, like, I think I’ve said this before, but she smacked me in Madrid real bad. It was actually embarrassing. I felt like I had to apologize to her after that practice,” Osaka added.
“But I’m going into this match…
