Naomi Osaka may be on the other side of the world, but her mind is very much on her home. After defeating Caroline Garcia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, in the first round of the Australian Open, Osaka revealed she had someone retrieve her daughter’s birth certificate from her Los Angeles-area home as the wildfires that have destroyed wide swaths of Southern California neared her house.
“I was watching the fire map, and the fire is, like, three blocks from my house,” Osaka said in her on-court interview after the match. “So I had someone go and get my daughter’s birth certificate and all that, because I didn’t know what would happen if that burned down.
“Sending all my love to L.A. I know we hear about fires, but for me in particular, I didn’t know how devastating it could be. I just hope everyone’s doing well, and I’m sending them all my love.”
Osaka, 27, give birth in July 2023 and returned to tennis about a year ago. She has two Australian Open titles (2019, 2021) and two US Open titles (2018, 2020) to her name and is fresh off making the ASB Classic final in Auckland, New Zealand, earlier this month — her first final since 2022. Osaka took the first set in that match against Clara Tauson but was forced to retire with an abdominal injury.
Osaka, who is ranked 51st in the world and is unseeded in the Australian Open, admitted it’s been tough staying focused on tennis but ultimately did an “acceptable job” in the victory over Garcia.
“It is really difficult for me because I think it’s tougher now, because I find my home is more of a home, because I have memories with my daughter, and there’s so many things like keepsakes and stuff like that, and obviously you can’t hoard them all when you’re asking someone to go to your house and just grab stuff.”
Osaka said her family is safe and she is checking on the status of the fires often. She added she does not envision returning to Los Angeles the the immediate future, which is serving as motivation for her to keep winning Down Under. Osaka faces 20th-seeded Karolina Muchova in the second round.
Osaka isn’t the only Australian Open contestant thinking of Los Angeles. Coco Gauff wrote a message on the camera after her first-round win.
