WTA: Naomi Osaka and her special friendship to Zhang Shuai

After her surprising triumph at the US Open, quite a few people wanted to know everything about the shy Naomi Osaka. Among other things, the Japanese girl revealed who her best friend on the tour was. The two will now meet in the quarter-finals in Beijing of all places.

There is hardly anything that Naomi Osaka has not been asked about in recent weeks. The success arouses curiosity about the people behind the tennis player. So the 20-year-old told me about herself, her family, this and that. In TV programmes, at press conferences and in exclusive interviews.

Osaka has revealed that sometimes she only puts on headphones to avoid being addressed. That she had difficulty opening herself up to other people. And she reported on the unusual beginning of a special friendship. Namely that to the Chinese colleague Zhang Shuai (29).

“She’s, like, a big sister to me. Your coach and you are the nicest people at all”, Osaka told the internet portal “Sport360°” about the world rankings-45. The whole thing has started a bit strange, as the New York Champion Filly thinks.

Zhang Shuai had watched an Osaka match at the Tokyo tournament in September 2016. “After that she told my coach that I was so good,” the Japanese woman said. The strange thing is that Osaka was Shuai’s next opponent.

“I thought she was crazy to say that before the direct duel.” Although Shuai won the next day in the round of 16 with 6:3, 6:2 against the young Osaka. But her assessment had not changed.

“She said I was so good, it was incredible. And I just thought: ‘But you have defeated me'”, Osaka reported with a smile. It was the beginning of a special friendship. The two often trained together, Shuai took over the role of mentor. “Whenever I see her, I want to push her. And it’s rare for me to do that,” Osaka added.

Osaka will now face Shuai in the Beijing quarter-finals on Friday, who defeated Angelique Kerber (No. 3) 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 on Thursday. The Japanese had previously eliminated Julia Görges (No. 10) 6-1, 6-2.