Naomi Osaka adopts bizarre tactic at French Open after calling medical time out

had put herself in the lead when she suddenly called a medical time out at the French Open. The four-time Major winner was facing 10th seed in a highly anticipated first-round match in Paris.

Osaka won a close first set against Badosa in a tiebreak, but when it was over, she called the physio and started cutting her nails in a bizarre start to her alloted medical time out.

The Japanese star took to the court in an adorable pink, sakura-themed kit, complete with a frilly skirt and flower hair clips. And she paid attention to even the smallest of details, as her nails were painted with matching cherry blossom art.

But her nails had to be sacrificed after she won a tight opening set. Badosa broke and had a set point on her serve at 6-5 but Osaka saved it and forced a breaker where she raced through, dropping only one point as the 10th seed reeled off errors.

Afterwards, the former No. 1 called the physio and resorted to an unusual tactic during her medical time out, taking clippers and cutting one of her perfectly manicured claws.

"I can't imagine this happens too often on the tour where the nails are just too long. It is a pain if you've got long nails and you're trying to fix your strings after every point," Laura Robson said on TNT Sports.

Her nails clearly weren't the only issue, however, as the physio taped up Osaka's finger before play resumed. But the manicure and the medical attention didn't seem to help as the 27-year-old suffered a massive collapse.

Badosa raced through the second set and led 5-0 with a set point for the bagel. Osaka got herself on the board but the Spaniard still managed to take it 6-1, forcing a decider.

The world No. 10 has faced plenty of her own physical issues in recent months, as a recurrent back injury forced her out of competition.

Badosa retired from the Merida Open in early March and returned a few weeks later at the Miami Open. But she pulled out after winning two matches until last week's WTA event in Strasbourg, winning one match via walkover before crashing out.

Meanwhile, Osaka has been busy trying to adjust to the clay, having typically struggled on the surface in the past. She dropped down to WTA 125 level earlier this month and .

Despite being a four-time Grand Slam champion, Osaka has never been to the second week at Roland Garros, but she now feels confident on the surface and wants that to change.

"On clay, I think I'm enjoying sliding a lot. I have played quite a few, I have played a lot of players that dropshotted me, so just sliding to those has been kind of fun. Fustrating but fun," she said.

However, it wasn't to be for the former world No. 1 as she suffered a tight three-set defeat, blowing an early-break lead in the decider as Badosa won 6-7(1) 6-1 6-4. Osaka during her press conference.