The four-time Grand Slam champion reached the final of the ASB Classic in preparation for the first major of the season, but had to retire and undergo an MRI scan. While she didn't provide specifics about the scan results on Friday, Osaka expressed that she is ready for her first-round match against Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I\u2019m normally a really honest person but I probably won\u2019t answer your question honestly,\u201d Osaka told reporters on Friday. \"The MRI, it wasn\u2019t fantastic, but it wasn\u2019t bad at the same time. I\u2019m pretty optimistic about playing my match, I mean for sure I\u2019m going to play my match, and I\u2019ve been practising pretty well for the two days that I\u2019ve been here.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 27-year-old has taken confidence from her performance in the WTA event in Auckland and has moved on mentally from the immediate devastation she felt upon retiring from the final there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt just sucked because I felt like my body wasn\u2019t keeping up with what my mind wanted it to do, and obviously I was very concerned about my chances playing here, so I felt like the best decision was to pull out, even though I really didn\u2019t want to,\u201d Osaka said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
That feeling was exacerbated by her campaign last year, spent largely rebuilding following a long stint of maternity leave. \u201cAt that moment it was an accumulation of losing in first rounds in 2024 and wanting and hoping to get to a final, and then obviously when I did, I couldn\u2019t play anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019m strangely over it now. Like, 30 minutes after that happened, I was over it because I felt like I\u2019m playing really well, and I can only keep continuing, and hopefully I\u2019ll get to another final.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
That feeling was exacerbated by her campaign last year, spent largely rebuilding following a long stint of maternity leave. \u201cAt that moment it was an accumulation of losing in first rounds in 2024 and wanting and hoping to get to a final, and then obviously when I did, I couldn\u2019t play anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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