Osaka battles to keep focus with LA fires 'three blocks from home'

While Naomi Osaka is busy competing — and winning — at the Australian Open, she needed to send someone to retrieve her one-and-half-year-old daughter's birth certificate from their California home in case it got caught up in the wildfires ravaging the greater Los Angeles area.

After a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory against Caroline Garcia of France in the first round at Melbourne Park on Monday night, Osaka said during an on-court interview at Rod Laver Arena that she had learned that there was a fire burning three blocks from her house.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka said she figured it would be a good idea to keep the birth certificate safe. Her daughter, Shai, was born in July 2023 and has traveled with Osaka on the tennis tour.

Osaka announced this month on social media that she and Shai's father, rapper Cordae, had ended their relationship.

"Honestly I don't think I've been doing the greatest keeping focus, but obviously I won, so I think it's an acceptable job," Osaka said about dividing her thoughts between Los Angeles and the tournament where she's competing. "It is really difficult for me ...because I find now my home is more of a home because I have memories with my daughter. There are so many things — keepsakes and stuff like that."

Osaka wore a black Dodgers hat with "LA" and a red heart stitched on it, along with a purple Lakers jersey to her news conference.

"I'm not there, so I don't know how bad it is or how bad it's going to get," she said. "But I think the biggest thing that I am grateful for is that everyone in my family is safe."

Osaka added that she doesn't think she will head to Los Angeles right after the Australian Open because, she said, "I don't feel like it's safe enough to go back there. It's kind of a little bit in a limbo — but also motivating me to hopefully stay here as long as I can."

She is a former No 1-ranked player who has won four Grand Slam titles — two at the Australian Open and two at the US Open.

Osaka was born in Japan and her family moved to the United States when she was 3. She's been based in Los Angeles for several years.

"Sending all my love to LA. We hear about fires, but I didn't know how devastating it could be," Osaka said on court. "I hope everyone's doing well."

She then wrote "LA" and drew a heart in blue ink on the lens of a courtside TV camera. Other Australian Open athletes, including Coco Gauff and Donna Vekic, have done similar after their matches.

This was the second year in a row that Osaka and 2022 US Open semifinalist Garcia have played each other in the first round at Melbourne Park. Last year, though, Osaka had only just returned from maternity leave and she lost that match to Garcia.

"It's a really big coincidence," Osaka said. "It felt a little familiar."

She got off to a good start this season by reaching the final of a hard-court tuneup tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, although she stopped playing after taking the opening set of that title match because of an injury.

Next at the Australian Open for Osaka will be a matchup against Czech 20th-seeded Karolina Muchova, who was the runner-up at the 2023 French Open but later missed about 10 months of action because of wrist surgery. Muchova advanced by eliminating Nadia Podoroska of Argentina 6-1, 6-1.

At last year's US Open, Muchova defeated Osaka in the second round.

Agencies via Xinhua