Defending champion Naomi Osaka stepped into the next round, she just wouldn’t step on «Melbourne.»
Defending champion Naomi Osaka didn’t need luck to win her opening-round match over Camila Osorio 6-3,6-3 at the Australian Open on Monday. But that didn’t stop her from trying to create some. In an act of superstition that would surely make Rafael Nadal proud, Osaka took great lengths, literally and figuratively, to avoid stepping on the «Melbourne» signage on the court. Throughout the match, she was seen hopping over it and even redoing her steps if she had accidentally, ever-so-slightly touched it. «Every time I’ve come here, I really don’t like stepping on the lines or the Melbourne logo in the back,» Osaka told reporters after the victory.
