‘I felt like I needed to slow my mind down’: Grand Slam champ Naomi Osaka says she needed a break from tennis ahead of Madrid Open

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka says she needed a break after the exertions of the hard court season, which saw her claim her fourth major title at the Australian Open in Melbourne two months ago.

The world number two, who hasn’t competed in over a month following her Miami Open quarterfinal exit, says she needed to spend time off the court to “slow [my] mind down a little bit.”

Osaka is preparing to open her clay court season at the Madrid Open this week, competing on a surface in which she is yet to claim any WTA tournament championships, with a third-round exit at the French Open her best result so far.

Talking about her brief hiatus ahead of her opener in Spain, the 23-year-old said her intense competitive schedule left no time for friends and family, who she hadn’t seen since Christmas.

“I didn’t really have time to see my family because I haven’t seen them since Christmas before I went down to Florida. I just wanted to spend time with them and chill out a little bit,” she explained at a press conference.

She also said the “Australian hard-court swing, plus Miami" took a lot out of her.

“After Miami I took a bit of a break because I felt like I needed to slow my mind down a little bit,” Osaka said.

“I felt like I needed it because after Australia I had like one day of rest then I immediately started working.

"It wasn’t tennis, but other stuff. For me, I just felt like the hard-court swing, the Australian hard-court swing, plus Miami was kind of compressed for me.”