Stosur on Osaka: “she was going to put it together one day”

Published by Matt Trollope

"She had a massive serve even then and timed the ball really nicely," said Sam Stsour when recalling her one and only match against Naomi Osaka in Stanford in 2014 (Getty Images)
Naomi Osaka’s first major splash on the international stage came back in 2014 when she beat top-20 star Sam Stosur in Stanford. And the Australian remembers that day quite clearly.

Naomi Osaka’s major breakthrough may have come at the US Open, but she made a name for herself four years earlier in Stanford thanks to a memorable WTA main-draw debut.

Lining up against then-world No.19 Sam Stosur, herself a US Open champion, Osaka stunned the Australian 4-6 7-6(7) 7-5.

It was a momentous victory for a player who was at the time just 16 years of age and ranked outside the world’s top 400.

Few people had heard of the Japanese teen; Osaka never played junior tennis and had only ever appeared at two WTA events previously, falling in qualifying in Quebec City and Tokyo in 2013. She was the last direct acceptance into Stanford qualifying in 2014, winning two matches before upsetting Stosur on the tournament’s Stadium court.

The Australian remembers the match clearly.

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She admitted that is was a challenging time in her career, given she was between coaches and that “there was a bit of stuff going on”. But she said there was no denying Osaka’s talent.

“I do remember coming off the court and being like, OK, I was under my level, but far out this girl has a big game,” Stosur told Tennismash.

“She had a massive serve even then and timed the ball really nicely. And just had this game that you could see she was gonna put it together one day and could be dangerous.”

Like most others, Stosur admitted she knew nothing of Osaka when she saw her name next to her own in the Stanford draw.

“I saw I’m playing a girl named Osaka from Japan, and my initial thoughts were, OK, she might be a bit more on the smaller side, she’ll hit the ball flat, she’ll be a good runner and competitor,” Stosur recalled.

“I kind of lumped her into that (group), more of what we (know) on the tour; most of the Japanese girls play a pretty similar sort of game. That’s a bit generalised, but … then I must have googled her or something and I was like, oh, that’s not what I was expecting (laughter). Changed my thoughts quite quickly. But still didn’t know anything about how she was gonna play.

“It was not a great feeling for me to lose to a girl who nobody had really heard of. But obviously hindsight is a wonderful thing and you could see that she was going to be a pretty decent player in years to come, that’s for sure.”

Stosur and Osaka have never played since, but they have practiced together several times during Osaka’s association with David Taylor, who previously coached Stosur.

“You can see the improvement as the years have gone on,” Stosur said. “You can see how it’s happened that she’s put it all together. So super exciting for her.”

Osaka and Stosur’s Serena connection

Another thread draws the Australian and the Japanese together – Serena Williams.

Both faced the American legend in a US Open final to win their first Grand Slam title, and during both matches Williams lost control of her emotions when on the receiving end of a code violation.

Stosur had won the first set 6-2 before Williams was docked a point for intentional hindrance early in the second set when she shouted “come on!” before a point had concluded. She lost her temper with chair umpire Eva Asderaki, while Stosur went on to win 6-2 6-3.

Eerily, it was at almost exactly the same moment – Osaka had won the first set 6-2 and the match was in the early stages of the second set – when Williams was given a warning for coaching from her box.

She eventually lost her temper with chair umpire Carlos Ramos, while Osaka went onto to win 6-2 6-4.

Stosur was travelling back to Australia during the Osaka-Williams final, but received a text as the second set was unfolding.

“A friend of mine actually wrote to me and said, oh my god, are you watching this? This is even more than when you played (Serena). And I was like, woah, OK,” Stosur laughed.

“It was a really kind of horrible feeling (in 2011) … I remember sitting down on the change of ends after winning the set and my heart rate – it was like, oh my god, is there a microphone near me? Because if there is, it’s gonna be able to pick up my heartbeat (laughter).

“You just had so much adrenaline I guess, and everything like that, and then to lump all that drama on top of it is like, this is just crazy.

“I don’t necessarily think they were booing in my match, but you could definitely feel the crowd and the energy and everything really change and then get amped up and be super, super pro Serena, and I’d imagine that obviously happened as well with Naomi.

“It’s a weird feeling to kind of have this neutral feeling (in the crowd) and you’re dominating, to then all of a sudden you feel like nobody in there wants you to win another point (laughter).  But I got past that quite quickly and then got on with it, and that was fine. And she (Osaka) must have obviously done that too.

“I guess in some ways we know what each other felt like (laughter). If anyone could feel something similar, we’ve probably got the best experience to do that.”

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