Preparing for the 2019 claycourt season and eating a lamb pizza at a trendy restaurant in Venice, California, Osaka, still the WTA No.1 at the time, reinforced the importance of hard work over talent:
There’s a certain point where talent isn’t useful anymore, and from there you’ve just got to want to win more than everyone else. I think that’s something I noticed from an early age, so that’s what I’ve been fortunate with. I mean, the way that I grew up and the circumstances that sort of surrounded me kind of forced me to think that way.