Osaka battles to keep focus with LA fires 'three blocks from home'

While Naomi Osaka is busy competing — and winning — at the Australian Open, she needed to send someone to retrieve her one-and-half-year-old daughter's birth certificate from their California home in case it got caught up in the wildfires ravaging the greater Los Angeles area.

After a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory against Caroline Garcia of France in the first round at Melbourne Park on Monday night, Osaka said during an on-court interview at Rod Laver Arena that she had learned that there was a fire burning three blocks from her house.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka said she figured it would be a good idea to keep the birth certificate safe. Her daughter, Shai, was born in July 2023 and has traveled with Osaka on the tennis tour.