Two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka spoke about how working with a ballet teacher saved her from further “meltdowns” on the court.
The 26-year-old, who won here in 2018 and 2020, has returned to Flushing Meadows as a wildcard after having to sit out the entire 2023 year because she gave birth to her daughter Shai last July.
Osaka has won only two Grand Slam singles matches since the 2022 French Open, but earlier this year she announced that Simone Elliott had joined her team.
Elliott is a dancer and choreographer and now works as Osaka’s movement coach – and mental coach. The tennis star takes ballet lessons and learns how to control her emotions on the court.
“I’m really grateful to her. We keep a diary regularly and she was the one who told me to get my little diary book, which I sometimes read on the court,” Osaka revealed on Saturday.
Two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka is now working with ballet dancer Simone Elliott
The dancer and choreographer works as Osaka’s movement coach and her mental coach
“I remember the day before my qualifying match in Cincinnati. I was feeling really bad and an hour before the game I asked if I could talk to her.
“We discussed it. Then of course I was able to win the game and after that I felt pretty good. I had these moments when I had a kind of breakdown on the pitch.
“I feel like if I hadn’t talked to her, this might have happened again at that moment.”
In an exciting first-round match between two Grand Slam winners, Osaka will face number 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko.
“I promised myself to be as confident as possible about who I am,” Osaka said.
“When I come here, I don’t really think about the two tournaments I won. I just think about how I felt as a kid because I grew up here and have such vivid memories of watching my favorite players.”
Osaka recalled watching players like Rafael Nadal and the Williams sisters, adding: “It’s more of a childhood nostalgia that I really enjoy.”
“I am really grateful to her,” Osaka said before her return to the US Open after a two-year absence
