03 December 2020

US Open winner Naomi Osaka reveals she doesn’t have ‘many friends on Tour’

Three-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka admits she doesn’t have ‘many friends on Tour’.

The 23 year-old Japanese tennis star has had a successful 2020 season after winning the US Open and reaching the final of the Western & Southern Open, before she withdrew with a hamstring injury. 

During an interview with American basketball manager Rich Kleiman, the World No 3 said: "I can speak on me, I don’t really have that many friends on Tour. Not on purpose, but I just feel like I’m so busy that I’m sort of like in and out of the locker room.

"I know that other players have friends that are also tennis players but a part of me also thinks like everyone really wants to win a tournament. 

“So there is a sort of a thing like, you know, ‘I don’t want to get too close to another player.'”

The 2020 tennis season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic in March, before the WTA Tour resumed in August. The first major event on the 2021 calendar will be the Australian Open in January. 

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