Naomi Osaka using Rafael Nadal videos to prepare for clay season after Miami finals run

Naomi Osaka has admitted that she will be looking to Rafael Nadal as she prepares for the upcoming clay-court swing. The former world No 1 recently reached her first final since winning the 2021 at the Australian Open, losing the Miami championship match to Iga Swiatek. After finding her form once more, she is turning her attention to the next part of the season.

Osaka has had a tough 12 months, first pulling out of the French Open when she received backlash for refusing to attend press conferences in attempt to protect her mental health before withdrawing from Wimbledon. She then lost in the third round of both the 2021 US Open and 2022 Australian Open, where she was the defending champion of both tournaments.

The 24-year-old had also taken an indefinite break from tennis after her third-round loss to Leylah Annie Fernandez in Flushing Meadows last year, citing a loss of love for the game, before she returned Down Under this year. Osaka had even suffered a difficult time as recently in Indian Wells, when she crashed out in the second-round after a crowd heckler reduced her to tears.

But she bounced back this week in Miami, reaching her first final since she won last year's Australian Open 13 months ago, and lost to good friend Iga Swiatek. While she was unable to win the title, the former world No 1 has taken the positives from her run in the sunshine state and is now looking to carry that into the clay swing with the help of Nadal.

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"I'm not as disappointed as I normally would be," the current world No 77 said after the final. "Normally, I would be crying in the locker room or something, but now I'm kind of chill. I feel like I know what I want