“I don’t have a great relationship with them” – Osaka opens up on early-morning encounters with anti-doping officials
Naomi Osaka was approached by doping control officers for a drug test at 5 am on Saturday ahead of the 2025 French Open
© Zuma / PsnewZ
Former world No 1 Naomi Osaka underwent an early-morning dope test ahead of the 2025 French Open and she opened up about the experience during her pre-tournament presser on Saturday.
In her second Roland-Garros appearance since the comeback, Osaka will start against No 10 seed Paula Badosa. She comes into the competition with boosted confidence, courtesy of a title-winning run in Saint-Malo (WTA 125) and a fruitful campaign in Rome (Round of 16).
Though, the Japanese pro found herself in an uncomfortable situation on Saturday as doping control officials knocked on her door in the wee hours, at 5 am in the morning.
The encounter reminded Osaka of the previous year’s testing horrors in Paris, where the blood collection officer used multiple attempts to find the right vein, leaving bruises.
“They’re kind of scary,” Osaka told reporters on Saturday. “For me, anti-doping is like, I don’t have a great relationship with them, just because they always come and take blood and urine, which I don’t know if that disgusts people to say, but whatever, and my veins are very notoriously hard to find. One person once told me it was like a Japanese thing. I don’t know if that’s accurate.
‘Oops, sorry, let me try this arm, let me try this arm, let me try this arm.'”
“Yeah, so they come at 5:00 am and stick me multiple times. Usually they can’t find my veins, so they have three attempts to find it. Sometimes they can’t find it. They’re like, ‘Oops, sorry, let me try this arm, let me try this arm, let me try this arm.’ I always have to tell them, ‘Hey, my playing arm is my right arm, I prefer the left, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.’
“And today was kind of scary, because the last year I was here they also came at 5:00 am, and the lady couldn’t find my veins at all. I had huge bruises on my arms for a while. Thankfully, it wasn’t the same lady. No shade to her. Today was a success because luckily I had to use the bathroom when they woke me up.”
Osaka and Badosa haven’t faced each other yet
Osaka will meet Paulo Badosa on Monday on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Interestingly, this will be their first-ever meeting on the tour.
Referring to the same, Osaka expressed surprise and recalled their cancelled meeting at the Italian Open a couple of weeks ago.
“I was supposed to play her in Rome but she was injured, so I didn’t get to play her,” she added. “But I was really looking forward to it because I know she’s a good player, and it’s kind of crazy that we have both been on tour but we haven’t played each other yet. I know that she’s supposed to be a good clay court player also.
“I think I’m going to be nervous because it is the first round, and I’m always nervous in the first round. Hopefully they’ll put us on a really good court.”
Mouratoglou advised Osaka to play in Saint-Malo
Osaka ended her four-year-long title drought earlier this month by lifting the Saint-Malo WTA 125 trophy.
This was also her first triumph on clay and first under coach Patrick Mouratoglou, on whose advice the four-time Grand Slam champion accepted the wildcard.
“It was something that I didn’t decide to do right away,” the 27-year-old revealed. “Honestly it was Patrick that kind of told me that he thinks, which he was right, like, it would be a better use of time to even practice playing the matches there.
“I am glad that I went. I was able to explore the city, which was really beautiful. I think the decision itself was kind of difficult, because in your mind, you do have a little bit of pride. Yeah, It was a hard decision, and I’m happy with the outcome, though.”
Osaka has been training under Mouratoglou since September 2024.
