Osaka still ‘scared’ of Serena Williams

Naomi Osaka has admitted she is still ‘scared’ of Serena Williams – more than two years after beating her in ‘that’ US Open final – in an interview for Vogue Magazine.

Osaka, who appears as one of four covers of the US magazine’s January edition, says she has spent most of her life looking up to her (Williams) and is still in awe of the now veteran superstar.

“Honestly, I’m kind of scared of her. Not scared scared but — I’m intimidated, and I get very shy when she’s like 10 feet away from me,” she said.

“There’s a lot of things she’s so much better at. She’s more aggressive. She knows when to go for her shots. Sometimes she hits really big service returns, and I can’t do that at all.”

Osaka and Williams have met on court three times, with Osaka currently ahead 2-1, winning at the 2018 Miami and the US Open and losing to Serena at the 2019 Canadian Open.