MELBOURNE — Dwelling too much on her achievement of reaching the Australian Open third round might "freak out" Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka, so the teenager would much rather focus on taking down twice former champion Victoria Azarenka.
The 127th-ranked Osaka, appearing in the main draw of a grand slam for the first time, underlined her exciting potential with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of 18th seed Elina Svitolina on Show Court Two on Thursday.
The 18-year-old, who is based in the United States but competes for her mother's country, was still giddy by her achievement when she faced reporters post-match at Melbourne Park.