The change Patrick Mouratoglou made to Naomi Osaka’s forehand in training before she extended her winning run in Rome

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Naomi Osaka has made some big changes on clay this year as she looks to find her best tennis on the red stuff.

The former world number one suffered a tough defeat in her first match on clay this year, when she lost to Lucia Bronzetti, 4-6, 2-6, 4-6 at the Madrid Open.

Looking to bounce back, Osaka chose to play a W125 event in Saint Malo, France, a decision she received praise for.

Securing her first career title on clay, Osaka beat Kaja Juvan in straight sets, returning to the world’s top 50 in the process.

Carrying that momentum through to the Italian Open, the Japanese star has won her opening two matches.

Following Osaka’s second-round win over Viktorija Golubic, her coach shared a video to social media highlighting a change the world number 48 made to her forehand recently.

Patrick Mouratoglou made an improvement to Naomi Osaka’s forehand on clay

On Instagram, Patrick Mouratoglou can be seen showing the 27-year-old how to improve her forehand.

“Imagine there is a nail here, and during the hit, it doesn’t move. It’s easy to be accurate when nothing moves,” he said.

“Stay here [low], let the hand do the job. If the leg, the shoulder, everything is moving, it’s very difficult.”

Osaka quickly got to grips with the technique and left the Frenchman impressed.

“Look at the sound, even the sound of the ball. I think no more explanation [is needed], because you got it,” he said.

“The quality of the ball is day and night.”

It looked like all of Mouratoglou and Osaka’s hard work had gone to waste during the early stages of her match with Golubic in Rome.

Osaka was spraying errors as she struggled to control her opponent’s slice in the first set.

Bravely fighting back, Osaka secured the win in three sets, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, advancing to the third round where she’ll take on either Beatriz Haddad Maia or Marie Bouzkova.

Proud of Osaka’s comeback win, Mouratoglou posted an image to his social media of the scoreline during the second set of Osaka’s win over Golubic, where the Swiss star served for the match at 6-2, 5-4.

What is Naomi Osaka’s longest-ever WTA winning streak?

Osaka has now won seven consecutive matches, but what was her longest-ever WTA Tour winning streak?

During the latter stages of the 2020 season, heading into 2021, Osaka won 23 matches in a row, picking up two Grand Slam titles along the way.

Osaka won her third and fourth Grand Slams during her winning streak, lifting the titles in New York and Melbourne.

Eventually, her run came to an end at the hands of Maria Sakkari, as she fell to defeat in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Miami Open.

Considering her form thus far in 2025, it seems unlikely that Osaka will win another 16 matches to tie her current record-winning streak, but she’ll certainly be looking to pick up win number eight when she next takes to the court.

Osaka will play Bouzkova or Haddad Maia for a place in the Italian Open fourth round on Saturday, May 10.