The real reason Naomi Osaka is sad to end her run at Indian Wells
Naomi Osaka says that her daughter has taken to the California desert and she will be sad to leave after her exit from the Indian Wells Masters.
Osaka showed good signs of progress in her ongoing comeback from maternity leave winning a pair of matches after entering the WTA 1000 tournament with a protected ranking.
Baby Shai has made the trip to Indian Wells from nearby Los Angeles where Osaka and partner Cordae live.
Osaka admitted to being nervous about travelling with the little one but has found that she enjoyed the short jaunt.
She even joked that her daughter would be disappointed to leave the desert.
“I am just really excited to see Shai after this. I was thinking during the match that I really want to win because she really loves it out here so, who am I to take her away from the desert,” she joked in her on-court interview.
Osaka noted later that she couldn’t live up to the expectation of a deeper run in jest.
“Yeah, ruined her dreams,” Osaka said.
“She was going to the zoo and stuff and we were taking her out, and she sleeps very good here. Hopefully, that trend continues,” said a beaming Osaka.
“But yeah, I think she enjoyed the change of scenery, and she enjoyed being outside, not too long, though, because she was going to get sunburnt. I took her on a hike and stuff.”
Osaka said after her exit from Indian Wells that she would be heading back to Los Angeles for a few days before jetting over to Miami for her next event.
The four-time Grand Slam winner is delighted about the prospect of returning to Miami.
She has reached the final at the WTA 1000 event before and is also looking foward to sampling the city’s culinary delights.
“I’m probably going to go to LA for a little bit. I haven’t eaten Haitian food in, like, three years, so I’m very excited to go back to Miami,” she said.
Osaka recently moved into a new home in a suburb of Los Angeles with the new home more family-friendly than her previous residence.
Born in Japan, Osaka’s family moved to the United States when she was very young. She opted to give up her dual-citizenship with the United States in order to receive full support from Japan. She has Japanese and Haitian heritage and continues to serve as a role model for many around the world.
