Naomi Osaka made her comeback to tennis with an incredible win at the Olympic Games while sporting long, red and white box braids.
According to the Associated Press, the Japanese prodigy defeated 52nd-ranked Zheng Saisai of China 6-1, 6-4.
This was the young player’s first game since she withdrew from competing at the French Open and Wimbledon for the sake of her mental health.
Sunday’s match also marked the first time that she’s spoken to the press since Paris when she said that she experiences “huge waves of anxiety” before meeting with the media and that she would be skipping news conferences.
Osaka spoke with reporters after her match and said, “More than anything else, I’m just focused on playing tennis.”
“The Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a kid, so I feel like the break that I took was very needed. I feel definitely a little bit refreshed, and I’m happy again,” she added.
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Osaka also mentioned feeling happy to talk to the press again and felt like the whole experience was surreal.
“There’s nothing wrong with my body. I just felt really nervous,” Osaka said. “I haven’t played since France, so there were definitely some things that I did a bit wrong, but I think I can improve in the matches that I continue playing.”
Osaka played impressively and in style. She wore a red dress and a red visor and with her hair styled in red-and-white braids to match the colors of the Japanese flag, which she had stitched onto the left side of her chest.
She was also given the honor of holding the Olympic torch and lighting the cauldron, to which she mentioned, “I feel very, very proud.”
“When I lit the flame, I was super honored,” she added. “I think that’s a position that you dream about, and not anyone can do it, so for me when they asked me if I wanted to, I was very surprised but very honored, and I’m just very happy to be here and very happy to play — especially in Tokyo.”
She posted a video of her during the ceremony to her Instagram and captioned it, “still trying to wrap my head around what just happened, crazy.”
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Osaka is set to play against Viktorija Golubi next.
