MELBOURNE - Naomi Osaka was left wondering whether a decision to eat Greek food foretold her win over Serena Williams after she reached the Australian Open final on Thursday.
Osaka, who has previously revealed a mystical side, said she switched from Japanese to Greek food on Wednesday - before Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas stunned 20-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal.
"It's super-weird. For the past three weeks I've been eating Japanese food on the day before my match," she said, after her 6-3, 6-4 semi-final win.
A coincidence? 🍽️@naomiosaka had been eating Japanese food before her matches but switched it out for Greek food last night.
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 18, 2021
Since then, @steftsitsipas upset Rafael Nadal & she secured a win over Serena Williams.
"Maybe I should keep eating Greek food"#AusOpen | #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/0TP2oUwf26
"And yesterday, I decided to eat Greek food. So I went to sleep, and I wake up, and Tsitsi had beaten Nadal.
"I'm like, ooh, maybe this is a sign."
Japan's Osaka, 23, said earlier in the tournament that her dreams are "very telling of the future" after she woke up fearful of defeat to Caroline Garcia.
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However, the dream turned out to be inaccurate as she swept past the Frenchwoman 6-2, 6-3 victory in just 61 minutes in the second round.
Osaka continues to cut an unusual figure in the tennis world, and gave American great Williams a quick bow of respect at the net after their match.
She then wrote "Mari, stop sending weird messages in the groupchat!" on a courtside camera, a barb directed at her elder sister.
AFP