As she stood outside in the shadow of the Caja Mágica two weeks ago in Madrid, Naomi Osaka was asked to reflect on her first appearance of the year on red clay, in Rouen, France, where she lost in the first round. Osaka is well known for her introverted, softly spoken nature, but her response was unusually blunt: “It was just shit, I’m sorry,” she said.
While she has established herself as one of the most successful players of her generation on hard courts, winning four grand-slam titles on the surface, for her and many other players on the tour springtime on the circuit brings the annual challenge of trying to perform on clay.
