TA breaks silence on Novak’s legal flop

Thirteenth seed Naomi Osaka has shut down talks of her potential fourth-round clash with Aussie Ash Barty.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Osaka quashed a reporter from asking about her potential opponents ensuing her Round 1 match with Columbian world No. 53 Camila Osorio.

“Please don’t tell me,” she said.

“I’m the type of person that I don’t look at the draw. I look only at the person I’m going to play.

“I was literally out somewhere yesterday and someone told me about Barty. Don’t tell me about anything past that – I’m just trying to get past the first round.”

Both women would need to defeat their first three opponents to set up the highly-anticipated clash before the finals, Tournament favourite Barty’s first test being Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko.

Both Barty and Osaka took four-month breaks from the WTA tour after last year’s US Open.

While Barty remained the WTA’s top-ranked player, Osaka slipped from No.2 in August to her classification of No.14.