Naomi Osaka played well at the Miami Open last month, enjoying a strong run to the last 16.
The four-time Major champion began her year in fine form when Osaka reached the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
Osaka then retired injured against Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open, as injuries continued to trouble the Japanese star.
Returning to action with a poor showing at Indian Wells, the 27-year-old bounced back in Florida, with Osaka narrowly missing out on a quarter-final place at the Miami Open, losing to Jasmine Paolini in three sets.
Now preparing to transition onto clay courts, Osaka is working hard in training and has just made a key change to her forehand.
Patrick Mouratoglou teaches Naomi Osaka to hit ‘open stance’ forehands ahead of her WTA return on clay
Naomi Osaka’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, posted a video on Instagram, highlighting a tactical tweak he made to her forehand during a recent training session.
“I think it’s easier if you’re open stance, because if you move to the side, imagine you’re in a rally, the ball comes here, shorter, you’ll come here and you’ll change direction,” he said after watching her miss several forehands.
After hearing the advice from Mouratoglou, Osaka hit a forehand into the net, prompting the Frenchman to intervene.
“Maybe for the moment focus on two things, your ball goes first up then down rather than flat and to follow it so when you hit the ball, your hand passes but your body follows every time,” said Mouratoglou.
“Because a few times your body was coming back to the centre.”
The shot suddenly clicked for the world number 55, as Mouratoglou praised Osaka for her efforts.
“Great, this one you followed the ball really well on this one,” he said.
“Good.
“Parfait [perfect].”
Osaka and Mouratoglou will no doubt hope to see her forehand firing on all cylinders when she makes her return to tennis at the Madrid Open on April 21.
Naomi Osaka’s clay court record during her tennis career
Seven times a champion on the WTA Tour, Osaka has yet to clinch a title on the clay.
Her best result came in Stuttgart six years ago, when she enjoyed an impressive run to the semi-finals.
- 2019 Stuttgart Open SF – Naomi Osaka withdrew ahead of match with Anett Kontaveit
- 2019 Stuttgart Open QF – Naomi Osaka beat Donna Vekic, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6
- 2019 Stuttgart Open 2R – Naomi Osaka beat Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-4, 6-3
Osaka’s results at the only clay-court Grand Slam event leave a lot to be desired, as the Japanese star has failed to reach the French Open fourth round in each of her previous seven visits to Roland Garros.
| Year | Round lost in | Opponent | Score |
| 2024 | 2R | Iga Swiatek | 7-6, 1-6, 7-5 |
| 2022 | 1R | Amanda Anisimova | 7-5, 6-4 |
| 2021 | 2R | Anna Bogdan | W/O |
| 2019 | 3R | Katerina Siniakova | 6-4, 6-2 |
| 2018 | 3R | Madison Keys | 6-1, 7-6 |
| 2017 | 1R | Alison Van Uytvanck | 6-3, 7-5 |
| 2016 | 3R | Simona Halep | 6-4, 7-5 |
At last year’s tournament, Osaka lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in three sets, producing one of the best clay-court performances of her career.
Her record at the event is now 8-6 (57% win rate), a statistic she’d love to improve upon in 2025.
She’ll first focus on Madrid, however, an event where she reached the quarterfinals in 2019.
Entering as the number one seed, Osaka looked in good form during the early rounds before falling to defeat in the Spanish capital.
- 2019 Madrid Open QF – Naomi Osaka lost to Belinda Bencic, 6-3, 2-6, 5-7
- 2019 Madrid Open 3R – Naomi Osaka beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-2, 6-3
- 2019 Madrid Open 2R – Naomi Osaka beat Sara Sorribes Tormo, 7-6, 3-6, 6-0
- 2019 Madrid Open 1R – Naomi Osaka beat Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2, 7-6
Osaka was unable to get past Bencic in the quarterfinals as her career-best run in Madrid came to an end.
It remains to be seen if she can do any better this time around, but it will certainly be something to look out for when the Madrid Open begins on April 21.
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