The last time we saw Naomi Osaka front the press in Melbourne, she cut a glum figure after a dispiriting loss to Coco Gauff in the third round of AO 2020.
“This one hurts a little bit more,” she said after her title defence ended. “I feel bad for … my entire team. We came here to win the tournament, and I'm sort of, like, the vessel that everyone's hard work is put into. And I wasn't able to do what I was supposed to do."
One year later, Osaka appeared a more assured, confident, content presence as she addressed the media on Sunday.
Season 2020 was a profound one for the Japanese star, who became the highest annual earner in women’s professional sporting history, and a vocal advocate for racial justice. She was simultaneously impactful on court, winning her third major trophy at the US Open.
That was the last time Osaka played an official match, meaning she enters the Australian summer on an 11-match winning streak.
Her transformation into one of the sport’s most decorated and visible stars prompted one journalist on Sunday to ask how it felt to be “seen as the face of women’s tennis these days”.
“There's so many interesting new people. I think I'm one of the new people,” she answered. “As long as Serena's here, I think she's the face of women's tennis.”
That may be slightly modest, given the explosion in Osaka’s social media following, endorsement portfolio and stature in the past 12 months.
But it is true she forms part of a burgeoning cast of exciting women’s stars who will contribute to the ‘fullest’ field at a Grand Slam event in a long time.
Osaka will be joined by world No.1 Ash Barty, who has not played for 11 months. Bianca Andreescu will return to competition after an even longer absence. The two newest major champions – Sofia Kenin and Iga Swiatek – are in the mix. And so is Williams, gunning for a 24th Grand Slam singles title.
It shapes as one of the more exciting women’s tournaments in recent memory. And it turns out Osaka feels similarly.
“I feel tennis is very interesting because it's like a video game where you can select a character and everyone's different. We all have our different strengths and weaknesses,” she said.
“I find it really fun to watch everyone else play because I personally watch them. I'm like, ‘Oh, I would have gone for this shot’, but they do something different. For me, it's something that I learned from.”
Swiatek is someone who has inspired her.
“I thought it was really amazing how she was able to, like, be super focused in all her matches,” Osaka said of the Polish teenager’s run to the Roland Garros title.
“I ate dinner with her last year here. She was talking about how she might go to college. I was telling her, like, she's really good, and I think she's going to do really well. So maybe don't try to divert your energy to college just yet.
“I'm glad she was able to win a Grand Slam so fast. Hopefully she'll continue to grow, which I know she will.”
Barty is someone she hoped to avoid.
“I don't want to play her in a Grand Slam final, but maybe in another tournament,” Osaka smiled.
“All the matches we played were really tough on me, the most recent one being in the finals of Beijing I guess two years ago. I know she has the ability to win Grand Slams. She won the French.
“I think that's something that's going to continue to happen.
But not in Australia, if Osaka has her way.
The world No.3 is a former champion in Melbourne and is at her very best on hard courts. The level she attained at times during her US Open run was extraordinary, with the 23-year-old revealing that her semifinal win over Jennifer Brady was “probably like top two matches I've played in my life”.
After her first outing at the Day At The Drive exhibition in Adelaide against Williams, Osaka is happy to be playing her lead-up matches at the same venue as the year’s first Grand Slam event.
She opens her summer campaign at the WTA Gippsland Trophy against either Ajla Tomljanovic or Alize Cornet.
“I would say during the exhibition I just tried to have fun and experiment a little,” she said.
“I feel like there's a lot of shots that I'm missing. I would love to be able to do them properly, be confident with how I feel about it. Drop shots is one of those shots. I feel like I'm getting better at slicing. That's something that I practiced during the off-season.
“As for everything else, hopefully you'll see it during my matches.”