Naomi Osaka blocking out Fed Cup to concentrate on Australian Open

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January 22, 2020

Defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka isn’t thinking of the Fed Cup yet

Naomi Osaka is blocking out the Fed Cup as she tries to win her second Australian Open.

The 2019 Australian Open champion defeated China’s Saisai Zheng 6-2, 6-4 but was frustrated by the tactics of her rival.

Osaka highlighted how she had to do a lot of the work in aiming for winners while Zheng was happy to “cut and slice” throughout the game.

The Japanese even threw her racquet in frustration but got back her composure to move into the third round.

The 22-year-old looked calm during the post-match press conference and was asked about the upcoming Fed Cup clash against Spain.

Japan play in February against Spain in a qualifier, but the champion was focussed on the task ahead:

“To be honest, I’ve kind of been blocking out Fed Cup because I’m very focused on this.”

However, Osaka maintained that the Fed Cup is important and hoped for a great performance from her end.

“I do know it’s a very big deal though, so hopefully, when I get there, I can win all my matches but as of right now my mind is really on this.”

The 22-year-old has played for the Asian country in the Fed Cup previously and will represent them in the 2020 Olympics too.

Osaka moved with her family to the USA when she was three but Japanese law obliges her to choose one nationality at the age of 22.

Japan has never won gold in Tennis at the Olympics, and it will be interesting to see how she does in 2020.

For now, her mind is rightly on the Australian Open and she is one of the favourites to win the title.

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