MADRID — Former women's world number one
Naomi Osaka says Spanish teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz has spurred a new wave of
excitement for men's tennis and says she is keen to watch him practice this
week in Madrid.
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Osaka, who is a wildcard at the
Madrid Open,
has been closely following Alcaraz's meteoric rise to the top-10, at just the
tender age of 18, and will be keeping an eye on him in the Spanish capital this
fortnight.
"I feel like he's genuinely made
everyone excited about the ATP and I haven't seen that in a very long
time," Osaka told reporters at the Caja Magica, where she faces a
qualifier in the opening round.
Alcaraz has amassed an impressive 23–3
win-loss record so far this season and has risen to a career-high No.9 in the
world on the back of capturing three titles in
Rio de Janeiro, Miami and
Barcelona.
The Spaniard is the youngest player to crack
the top 10 since his compatriot Rafael Nadal achieved that feat at the same age
17 years ago.
"I'm not even really thinking about his
age, like every time someone brings up his age, I'm like, 'Oh wow, I forget,
that's so cool'," said 24-year-old Osaka.
"I think just his game style, just how
pumped he is, how I feel like I'm watching him learn with every tournament.”
"I don't know what his ranking was last
year here, but I've watched almost every tournament that he's played, the
US Open when he played (Stefanos) Tsitsipas and just to see the growth I think is
really exciting for everyone."
Osaka, who won all four of her Grand Slam
titles on hard courts, is keen to translate that success to the red dirt this
season.
She prepared for the clay-court season by
spending a few days training in Mallorca and said she has made some changes to
her game, inspired by 13-time
French Open champion Nadal.
"I think I stole one of the things that
he did and I've been practicing it recently," Osaka said, referring to
Nadal.
"It'll either go really good or really
bad. There's like no in between.”
After making a tearful second-round exit at
Indian Wells last month, where she was affected by a heckler in the crowd,
Osaka rebounded in style in Miami, reaching the final before losing to world
No.1 Iga Swiatek.
Osaka, who says she hopes to reach at least
the semifinals in Madrid or Rome in the build-up to
Roland Garros, admits it
was a difficult moment for her but is choosing to see it as a positive learning
experience.
"I feel like there are a lot of moments
in my career that are like extremely sad for me at the time but I kind of later
look back on it and I think to myself, 'Well that really made me grow as a
person, and even though I really hated the experience, I'm glad it happened to
me'," she explained.
"For me that's one of those moments. I
wish it didn't happen, but also I'm glad that it did.
"I feel like it prepared me for a lot
of things that may or may not happen but it's kind of like one of those things
you have in your back pocket as experience."
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