Naomi Osaka admits life at the top was much more stressful than she imagined, but believes there are benefits to being No. 2 at Wimbledon.
The prospect of upward mobility.
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The Australian Open champion says arriving at Wimbledon as world No. 2 behind Roland Garros champion Ashleigh Barty gives her plenty of incentive to regain the top spot by raising the Rosewater Dish.
"I mean, mentally it was way more stress and pressure than I could have imagined," Osaka said of her 21-week reign as world No. 1. "I don't think there was anything that could have prepared me for that, especially since I'm kind of an overthinker.
"So, yeah, I think it's better for me now to be, like, I was going to say lower ranked—isn't that crazy—to be No. 2 here because the only, like, upside is if you win the tournament, you're automatically No. 1. That, for sure, is a really big goal of mine."
The two-time Grand Slam champion concedes she feels less pressure entering the grass-court Grand Slam where she's reached the third round in both of her appearances at SW19.
"I don't have to think about defending the ranking or anything," Osaka said. "Also I'm really happy for Ashleigh. She's super amazing. I think just, like, her whole story of how she, like, quit and came back is super cool."
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