Naomi Osaka has shared a meme about Rafael Nadal’s intimidation factor at the French Open following his retirement announcement. The 38-year-old’s decision to retire after 23 years in the sport stirred emotions across the internet, with tributes pouring in since Thursday.
Nadal announced that his final tournament will be the 2024 Davis Cup, where he will represent his country, Spain.
Nadal is the most successful player in French Open history, winning 14 singles titles between 2005 and 2024. He is also the only player in the Open Era to clinch the title consecutively five times, from 2010 to 2014.
Being a clay-court specialist, he was the subject of a meme that Osaka shared on her Instagram story on Saturday. The meme humorously captured the intimidating experience of qualifying for your first French Open, only to see Rafael Nadal warming up, a sight that could easily cause panic.
“POV you just qualified for your first main draw French Open and see this”
Osaka has won two Australian Open titles and two US Open titles since turning pro; however, she has struggled at the French Open, with her best result being a third-round appearance. In this year’s edition, she defeated Lucia Bronzetti in the first round but was knocked out by eventual champion Iga Świątek in the second round.
Both Nadal and Osaka made comebacks to tennis in January. The latter was sidelined due to the birth of her daughter, while the former was out with an injury. Since her return, Osaka has climbed from No. 883 in the WTA rankings to her current ranking of No. 58.
On the other hand, Nadal has played in seven tournaments and competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where he partnered with Carlos Alcaraz and reached the quarterfinals.
Naomi Osaka on learning from Rafael Nadal – “I stole one of the things that he did”
During the 2022 Madrid Open, Noami Osaka shared with the press that she is learning from Rafael Nadal and applying what she has learned in her practice. She mentioned that she has been warming up left-handed, similar to Nadal, but noted that she doesn’t plan to use that skill anytime soon.
“Yes, I think I stole one of the things that he did and I’ve been practicing it recently. It’ll either go really good or really bad. There’s like no in between. But I think as I’ve been doing it, it’s been going pretty well. I’ve actually been warming up kind of left-handed but I don’t think that’s a skill that’s going to show itself anytime soon,” Naomi Osaka said (as reported by Givemesport).
Osaka has yet to win a title on clay, but her closest attempts came in 2019 when she reached the quarterfinals at both the Italian Open and the Madrid Open.
